Begonia bruneiana Sands subsp. bruneiana
Null / Bidang setampik (Bru.)
Description
Traditional Medicinal Uses
Ecology
Propagation
Distribution
Precaution
Perennial erect herb that can reach 30 cm tall. Leaves are simple, placed alternately, glossy, adaxially metallic dark green while abaxially paler greenish-grey. Leaf blade is obovate, acute at apex, rounded at base with entire margin. Stems are thick, greenish maroon, tough to more or less woody at the base, rhizomatous and rooting near the base. Inflorescence borne at leaf
Locally, the leaves and stem-bark are boiled together with onion ( Allium cepa ) and fennel flowers or black cumin ( Nigella sativa ) and the resultant decoction is taken orally for constipation. The leaves are soaked in warm water as herbal bath for women after childbirth. The red pigment from the seed aril is often used in food colouring and for cosmetic products. The plant is known to have antimicrobial and antifungal activities.
It thrives in deeply shaded stream valleys, in lowland mixed dipterocarp and degraded forests. It prefers clay sandy soil under shade.
Stem cutting.
Endemic to Brunei Darussalam.
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