Justicia gendarussa Burm.f
Water Willow / Sarim bangun hitam (Bru.)
Acanthaceae
Description
Traditional Medicinal Uses
Ecology
Propagation
Distribution
Precaution
Perennial sub-shrub that can reach up to 1.5 m in height. Leaves are simple, oppositely and cross-wise arranged, subsessile and glabrous. Leaf blade is linear-lanceolate, acuminate or acute at apex, cuneate or attenuate at base with entire margin. Stems are erect, glabrous, dark purple and subcylindrical. Flowers are creamy-white with purple tinge. Inflorescence a terminal or axillary spike. Fruit a glabrous capsule.
Locally, the leaves are warmed over a flame and applied to the chest area externally to treat breast cancer. It is also made into a herbal bath, added with Lygodium microphyllum (Ribu-ribu) and Blumea balsamifera (Daun sembong) for after childbirth treatment. The dried leaves are used as insect repellent. It possesses antinociceptive, antioxidant, antiviral and immunosuppresive activities.
It prefers moist but well-drained loamy soil under shade. It thrives in thickets, near streams, along roadsides and in forests.
Stem cutting and seeds.
Native to China.
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