Scurrula ferruginea (Roxb. ex Jack) Danser
Mistletoe / Terai sesaii (Bel.); Binalu bini (Bru.)
Description
Traditional Medicinal Uses
Ecology
Propagation
Distribution
Precaution
Terrestrial hemi-parasitic shrub that attaches itself with haustoria to many types of trees and can reach up to 1 m tall. Leaves are simple, oppositely arranged, thinly leathery, adaxially glabrous and abaxially sparsely hairy or subglabrous. Leaf blade is broadly elliptic or ovate, obtuse to subrounded at apex, rounded to shallowly cordate at base with entire margin and pinnate venation. Young stems are reddish-brown and hairy while the old stems are greyish and glabrous. Inflorescence a raceme developing at leaf axils and at the nodes. Flowers are several-flowered and brown. Fruit a pear-shaped, hairy
The local healers used the plant as remedy for high blood pressure and poisoning. Root parts are boiled in 3 cups of water until the water level is reduced to 1 cup. The resultant decoction can be drunk.
It often grows in disturbed secondary forests, in grasslands, on hillsides, on slopes and along roadsides. It prefers acidic soil under full sunlight to shade.
Seeds.
Native to Southeast Asia.mistletoe
None