Gnetum gnemon L.
Melinjo / Bagu (Bru.)
Description
Traditional Medicinal Uses
Ecology
Propagation
Distribution
Precaution
Perennial small tree that can reach up to 10 m tall. Leaves are simple, in opposite arrangement, leathery and dark greenish-yellow. Leaf blade is elliptic or oblong, acute or acuminate at apex, attenuate at base with entire margin. Stems are marked with conspicuous rings and branching in a whorl. Barks are grey. Branches are thickened at the base. Inflorescence a spike arising at leaf axils, solitary, in whorls at the nodes. Fruit a purplish drupe. Seeds are large, covered in a fleshy layer and yellowish-orange to red when mature.
The local healers believed that the fresh leaves can treat breast cancer where the leaves are warmed over a flame and applied to the chest area. It is also believed that the nectar from unbloomed flowers can make people’s faces bright especially for young girls by tapping it gently onto the face. For other uses, the leaves are wilted over a flame and applied externally to the lower abdominal area of mother for childbirth treatment. The plant possesses antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anthelmintic and antimutagenic activities.
It is commonly found on rocky shores and coastal areas. It prefers sandy soil under full sunlight.
Seeds and stem cutting.
Native to southeast Asia and the western Pacific Ocean islands, from Mizoram and Assam in India, south and east through Indonesia and Malaysia to the Philippines and Fiji.
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