Lindernia antipoda (L.) Alston
Family
Scrophulariaceae
Synonyms
Ruellia antipoda L., Bonnaya veronicifolia (Retzius) Spreng., Ilysanthes antipoda (L.) Merr.
Vernacular Names
| Indonesia | Mata yuyu (Javanese), sawi tanah, tumpangan ayer (Malay). |
| Thailand | Maak lin nam khaang (South-western), chang peng no (Central). |
| Vietnam | c[os]c m[aw]n, rau choi, m[af]n d[aas]t. |
Geographical Distributions
Lindemia antipoda is distributed throughout tropical and subtropical Asia, from India to southern and central China and Japan, L. antipoda also occurs throughout Southeast Asia to northern Australia, Micronesia and Polynesia.
Description
L. antipoda is an annual creeping herb, which can grow up to measure 40 cm long. The branches ascend at the ends while the stem is with air cavities.
The leaves are oblong-obovate in shape, with a size measuring about 9-45 mm long, attenuate base, shallowly remotely dentate margins and minutely bristly.
The flowers are axillary, solitary, 2 per leaf pair and up to measure 1 cm long pedicel. The petal tube is measuring 5-8 mm long and widening upwards. The upper lip is subemarginate, recurved margins while the lower lip is 3-lobed where the middle lobe is hairy inside. The petal base is yellow. The lobes are pale blue-purple to white in colour, with 2 stamens, lilac, 2 staminodes, erect, club-shaped apex and bright yellow in colour.
The capsule is erect-patent, linear-lance-shaped, with a size measure about 1-1.8 cm long and it is twice as long as the sepal.
The seed is ellipsoid, reticulate, acute base while the apex is obtuse or narrowed.
Ecology / Cultivation
L. antipoda occurs in sunny or shaded area, moist or swampy localities, also near villages and in open forest or ditches, as well as on arable land and irrigated or rainfed rice fields, from sea-level up to 1800 m altitude.
Line Drawing / Photograph
References
- Plant Resources of South-East Asia No. 12 (2): Medicinal and poisonous plants.
