Cayratia trifolia (L.) Domin
Family
Vitaceae
Synonyms
Vitis trifolia L., Cissus trifolia (L.) K. Schum., C. carnosa (Lamk) Gagnep.
Vernacular Names
| Malaysia | Lakum, daun kapialun, galing-galing. |
| Indonesia | Galing (Javanese), gumburu rogbo-robo (Ternate), ai lau salak (Ambonese). |
| Papua New Guinea | Vualai, vaulai (Gunantuna, East New Britain). |
| Philippines | Kalit-kalit (Tagalog), alangingi (Bisaya), arinat (Iloko). |
| Laos | Ta det. |
| Thailand | Thao kan khaao (Central). |
| Vietnam | s[af]n s[aj]t, d[aa]y v[as]c. |
Geographical Distributions
From India to southern China, Indo-China, through Malesia and the Pacific Islands; not common in Peninsular Malaysia.
Description
Cayratia trifolia is usually a deciduous climber, measure 2-20 m long, with angular stems, pubescent when young, 4-5-fid tendrils, ending in adhesive disks and tuberous roots.
The leaves are 3-foliolate, measure 2-4 cm long petiole, ovate to oblong-ovate leaflets, with a size of measuring 2-8 cm x 1.5-5 cm and coarsely toothed margins. The lateral leaflets are often lobed where both surfaces are pubescent and often become sparsely when old.
The inflorescence is axillary, corymbiform cymose, with 3-4 of primary branches, measure about 6-9 cm x 3-6 cm and with long peduncle. The small flowers are greenish-white in colour.
The berry is a compressed spherical in shape, measure about 1 cm in diametre, dark purple or black in colour and it is 2-4-seeded.
Ecology / Cultivation
C. trifolia occurs in thickets and open forest, from sea-level up to 400 m altitude.
Line Drawing / Photograph
References
- Plant Resources of South-East Asia No. 12 (2): Medicinal and poisonous plants.
