Skip to main content

Bandicoot berry (Leea indica)

Girang or bandicoot berry (Leea indica) is a plant species in Vitaceae, an upright shrub to a small tree, often with several trunks, growing 2-10 meters and sometimes up to 16 meters with a trunk diameter of about 19 cm, single root light brown and rigid.

L. indica has woody stems, branched, cylindrical in shape, vines and green when young. Compound leaves, minor lanceolate leaves, short stalks, serrated edges, pointed tip, rounded base, 6-25 cm long, 3-8 cm wide, pinnate veins, hairy and green. Leaf marks are clearly visible.

Dlium Bandicoot berry (Leea indica)


Compound flowers, forming panicles and umbrella-shaped in the leaf axils. Star-shaped petals, 2-5 cm long and whitish yellow. Torn-shaped crown. The anthers are white.

The fruit is round, 12 mm in diameter, when young it is green and when it is old it is purple-black. The seeds are small, triangular in shape and yellowish white in color.

It grows in primary rainforest, mountain, secondary rainforest, monsoon forest, coastal forest, mixed forest, teak forest, occasionally found in scrub, freshwater swamp forest and grasslands. Spread in the lowlands to an elevation of 1700 meters. Grows well in full or partial sun, preferring moist, fertile and well-drained soil.





Leaves contain flavonoids, steroids, saponins and polyphenols. Fruit contains flavonoids. Bark contains alkaloids, flavonoids and steroids. The roots contain flavonoids, steroids, saponins and tannins. The seeds contain saponins, flavonoids and polyphenols.

The root is useful as an antifungal drug, malaria, and stomach ache. The leaves are pounded until smooth and rubbed in places that are allergic or itchy. The leaves are pounded until smooth, then paste on the left and right temples to treat headaches. Ethanol extract has been shown to selectively inhibit herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) at a minimum inhibitory concentration of 0.001-0.1 mg/ml.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Vitales
Family: Vitaceae
Genus: Leea
Species: Leea indica

Popular Posts

Purwaceng (Pimpinella pruatjan)

Purwaceng or purwoceng or antanan gunung or Viagra of Java ( Pimpinella pruatjan or Pimpinella priatjan ) are small termas growing horizontally in Apiaceae, growing in villages on Dieng Plateau, Central Java Province, Indonesia, at 1,500 to 2,000 meters above sea level, the roots have medicinal properties for aphrodisiacs and are usually processed in powder form for a mixture of coffee or milk. P. pruatjan grows flat on the ground but does not propagate, small leaves are reddish green for 1-3 cm in diameter. This plant is only found in Java and grows in high mountain areas. A low population where industrial demand is very high results in increasingly scarce. Another place that is likely to become a purwaceng habitat is the Iyang Mountains and the Tengger Mountains in East Java Province. Efforts to multiply and cultivate have a big problem where these plants have difficulty producing seeds. In vitro propagation research through tissue cultivation has been carried out to overcome ...

New living fossil, Amethyst worm lizard (Amphisbaena amethysta), from Espinhaço Mountain Range, Brazil

NEWS - New species from the northern Espinhaço Mountains, Caetité municipality, Bahia state, Brazil. Amethyst worm lizard ( Amphisbaena amethysta ) is the 71st species of the genus with 4 precloacal pores and the 22nd species of Caatinga morphoclimatic domain. Identification of the new species shows the reptiles of the Mountains are far from complete and may contain greater diversity of endemic taxa. A. amethysta can be distinguished by its anteriorly convex snout, slightly compressed and unkeeled, pectoral scales arranged in regular annuli, four precloacal pores, distinct head shield, 185-199 dorsal and half annuli, 13-16 caudal annuli, a conspicuous autotomy spot between the 4th-6th caudal annuli, 16-21 dorsal and ventral segments in the middle of the body, 3/3 supralabials, 3/3 infralabials and a smooth and rounded tail tip. A. amethysta occurs in areas with an average elevation of 1000 meters in patches of deciduous and semi-deciduous forests associated with valleys, slopes, fore...

Six new species forming the Sumbana species group in genus Nemophora Hoffmannsegg 1798 from Indonesia

NEWS - Sumbawa longhorn ( Nemophora sumbana Kozlov, sp. nov.), Timor longhorn ( Nemophora timorella Kozlov, sp. nov.), shining shade longhorn ( Nemophora umbronitidella Kozlov, sp. nov.), Wegner longhorn ( Nemophora wegneri Kozlov, sp. nov.), long brush longhorn ( Nemophora longipeniculella Kozlov, sp. nov.), and short brush longhorn ( Nemophora brevipeniculella Kozlov, sp. nov.) from the Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia. The Lesser Sunda Islands consist of two parallel, linear oceanic island chains, including Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba, Sawu, Timor, Alor, and Tanimbar. The oldest of these islands have been continuously occurring for 10–12 million years. This long period of isolation has allowed significant in situ diversification, making the Lesser Sundas home to many endemic species. This island chain may act as a two-way filter for organisms migrating between the world's two great biogeographic regions, Asia and Australia-Papua. The recognition of a striking cli...