Mussaenda frondosa L.

Taxonomy: Plantae > Tracheophyta > Magnoliopsida > Gentianales > Rubiaceae > Mussaenda > M. frondosa

Description: Straggling shrubs; branchlets pubescent. Leaves 6-10 x 4-6 cm, broadly ovate, base rounded, caudate acuminate at apex, sparsely hairy on both surfaces; petiole to 1.5 cm long; stipules 3-4 mm long, ovate, bifid at apex. Cymes terminal, lax, tomentose. Flowers 5-merous. Bracts and bracteoles linear, 1-1.5 cm, hairy. Calyx-lobes 5, 0.8-1 cm long, lanceolate, hairy, one of the calyx lobes transformed into a showy, white, pubescent, leaf-like structure, 8-12 x c. 4.5 cm. Corolla 2.5-3 cm long, funnel-shaped dialated above middle, orange-red or yellow, tomentose outside, villous at mouth; lobes 6-7 mm long, ovate-lanceolate. Stamens 5, included or exserted. Berry c. 1 cm across, globose.

Flowering and Fruiting : September-March

Uses : Edible Uses:The leaves and the sepals are eaten as a salad vegetable.The white, leaf-like segment of the calyx is eaten as a vegetable. Medicinal:The juice of the plant is used to treat eye infections.A decoction of the leaves is used to rid the body of intestinal worms.The root is used as a treatment for leprosy.The juice of the roots, combined with about 10% by volume of cow's urine, is used in the treatment of jaundice.The juice is also used to treat blemishes on the tongue.The juice of the bark is used in the treatment of body ache, diarrhoea and dysentery.The flowers are diuretic. They are used in the treatment of cough.Agroforestry Uses:The leaves are used as a green manure

Cultivation : Ornamental, Wild

References

http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org

https://indiabiodiversity.org