Queen of Philippines (Mussaenda philippica)

Nusa Indah or Queen of Philippines (Mussaenda philippica) is a plant species in the Rubiaceae, a shrub or small tree, fibrous roots and yellowish white, cylindrical stems, many branches, rough and brown bark.

M. philippica has leaves that sit opposite and alternate, ovate, 5-15 cm long, 4-8 cm wide, tapered tip and base, smooth hair, pinnate veins, flat margin, green upper side and lower side whitish green.

Compound flowers, appears at the end of the stalk, umbrella-shaped bouquets, small trumpet-shaped flowers, 1 cm and yellow. Seeds riding, lancet-shaped and yellow-brown. This species grows at elevations of 1-1700 meters. This plant flowers in summer.

This plant contains β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, arjunolic acid, alkaloids, isoquercitrin flavonoids, triterpenoid saponins (mussaendoside F), iridoid compounds, heinsiagenin A. Often used to treat flu, fever, cough, tonsillitis, sore throat, wounds, boils, prevent and treat breast cancer.

TAXON

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Gentianales
Family: Rubiaceae
Subfamily: Ixoroideae
Tribe: Mussaendeae
Genus: Mussaenda Burm. ex L. in Sp. Pl.: 177 (1753)
Species: Mussaenda philippica A.Rich. in Mém. Rubiac.: 165 (1830)
Variety: Mussaenda philippica var. aurorae Sulit, Mussaenda philippica var. philippica, Mussaenda philippica var. pubescens Alejandro

PUBLICATIONS

Alejandro, G.J.D., Meve, U. & Liede-Schumann, S. (2016). A taxonomic revision of Philippine Mussaenda (Rubiaceae, Mussaendeae). Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 101: 457-524.

Chantaranothai, P. (2015). A synopsis of Mussaenda L. (Rubiaceae) in Thailand. Thai Forest Bulletin (Botany) 43: 51-65.

Delprete, P.G. & Cortés-B., R. (2006 publ. 2007). A synopsis of the Rubiaceae of the states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, with a key to genera, and a preliminary species list. Revista de Biologia Neotropical 3: 13-96.

Delprete, P.G. (2010). Rubiaceae. Flora dos estados de Goiás e Tocantins 40: 1-1610. Universidade Federal de Goiás.

Govaerts, R. (2003). World Checklist of Selected Plant Families Database in ACCESS: 1-216203. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Sarder, N.U. & Hassan, M.A. (eds.) (2018). Vascular flora of Chittagong and the Chittagong Hill Tracts 3: 1-978. Bangladesh National Herbarium, Dhaka.

VERNACULAR NAME

English: Queen of Philippines
Indonesian: Nusa Indah
Sumatra: Daun putri

Aryo Bandoro
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Screw tree (Helicteres isora)

Screw tree ( Helicteres isora ) is a species of plant in the Malvaceae family. It is a shrub or small tree, up to 8 meters tall. It has gray bark and alternate leaves, up to 22 cm long and 17 cm wide, oval in shape, with serrated edges and hairs. The flowers are red or white and reach a total length of 5.5 cm. The fruit is green when unripe, brown or gray when dry, twisted, spiral-shaped, and pointed at the tip. The seeds are black or brown, shiny, and diagonal, triangular, or rectangular. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Malvales Family: Malvaceae Subfamily: Helicteroideae Tribe: Helictereae Genus: Helicteres Pluk. ex L. in Sp. Pl.: 963 (1753) Species: Helicteres isora L. in Sp. Pl.: 963 (1753) HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS Helicteres baruensis var. ovata DC. in Prodr. 1: 476 (1824) Helicteres chrysocalyx Miq. ex Mast. in J.D.Hooker, Fl. Brit. India 1: 365 (1874) Helicteres corylifolia Buch.-Ham. ex Dillwyn in Rev. Hortus Malab....

Breng (Coldenia breng)

Breng ( Coldenia breng ) is a species of plant in the Boraginaceae family. It is a herbaceous plant that grows along the ground, with radial, cylindrical stems, red, multi-branched, alternate, and white-haired. C. breng has alternate leaves along the stem, oval to nearly round, up to 2.5 cm long, up to 1.5 cm wide, and white-haired. This plant grows in floodplains, seasonally inundated riverbanks, and drying rice fields. It thrives in sandy or silty soils and is drought-tolerant. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Boraginales Family: Boraginaceae Subfamily: Cordioideae Genus: Coldenia L. in Sp. Pl.: 125 (1753) Species: Coldenia breng Aryo Bandoro Dlium TheDlium YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dlium

Kunu buti (Mesosphaerum suaveolens)

Kunu buti ( Mesosphaerum suaveolens ) is a species of plant in the Lamiaceae family. It is an erect, herbaceous annual, growing up to 1.5 meters tall. Its cylindrical, rough, brown or green stem is hairy and white. It grows on forest floors, bushes, agricultural fields, and roadsides. Its roots are fibrous and brownish-yellow. M. suaveolens has single, opposite leaves, stalks 2-5 cm long and hairy. The leaf blades are green, hairy, oval, with pointed tips, blunt bases, serrated edges, up to 6 cm long, up to 5 cm wide, and pinnate veins. The flowers are compound, axillary, in clusters, perfect, and bisexual. The petals are attached, forming a tube, each tip elongated like a spine, soft, 3-10 mm long, and green. The corolla is attached, asymmetrically detached, 1-2 cm long, and purple. The fruit is single, hard, capsule-shaped, hairy on the surface, and green or brown in color. The seeds are round, small and blackish brown in color. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphyl...

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