|  Botany
Abang-abang is a smooth or nearly smooth shrub or small
tree, 3 to 5 meters in height. Leaves are three or four times pinnately
compound, 50 to 80 centimeters long. Leaflets are elliptic-ovate to oblong lanceolate,
6 to 15 centimeters long, toothed at the margins, pointed at the tip and rounded
or somewhat pointed at the base. Flowers are borne on large cymes,
up to 50 centimeters in diameter, five-parted and about 3 millimeters long, a few opening
at a time, the stalks and calyx are red, the petals, pale yellow. Fruit
is dark red, depressed-globose and about 8 millimeters in diameter.
Distribution
- Common in thickets and secondary
forests at low and medium altitudes throughout the Philippines.
- Also reported in Taiwan, the Caroline Islands, and Yap.
Properties
Considered vulnerary.
Parts used
Roots, branches, leaves.
Uses
Folkloric
- Decoction of roots, branches
and leaves used for wound healing.
- In Thailand, root used for diarrhea and
hallucination.
- In southern Western Ghats, leaf juice of the plant is mixed with coconut milk, given three times daily for treatment of dysentery with blood discharge.
Studies
• Anti-Hypertensive:
In a study of the potential antihypertensive activity of Brazilian plants,
Leea rubra was one of five plants (C brasiliense, C fruticosum, P roebelinii
and T catappa) that showed significant angiotensin-converting enzyme
(ACE) inhibition.
Availability
Seasonal fruiting
and ubiquitous market produce. |
