Beluntas - Indian Pluchea / Marsh Fleabane
(Pluchea Indica (L.) Less. )
Beluntas - Indian Pluchea / Marsh Fleabane
(Pluchea Indica (L.) Less. )
Beluntas originates from India and has spread to southern China, Indochina, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, and the Pacific islands. In Indonesia, it is distributed across the islands of Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and Nusa Tenggara. This plant is commonly grown as a hedge and has traditional medicinal properties.
It generally grows in dry areas on hard, rocky soil, in highlands at altitudes up to 1,000 m above sea level. It requires sufficient sunlight and cannot tolerate heavy shade.
The taproot is branched and dirty white.
The branching stems are cylindrical and woody, dark brown with green tips, and glabrous (hairless).
The leaves are single and alternate, ovate-oblong, with rounded, pointed tips, serrated edges, glandular, and bright green. When boiled or crushed, they emit a distinctive aroma.
The flowers are compound, in flat panicles, emerging from the tips of the branches into the leaf axils.
The fruit is top-like, brown with white corners and is glabrous (glabrous or smooth).
Propagation is by stem cuttings and shoot cuttings. Stem cuttings range in length from 7 to 15 cm.
They can be planted directly in polybags or soaked in coconut water to promote rooting.
Harvest leaves when the plant is 1 to 1.5 m tall.
Increases appetite, improves digestion, reduces sweat, eliminates body odor, bad breath, vaginal discharge, relieves fever, bone pain, asthma, increases stamina of mothers giving birth.
Alkoloids, flavonoids, tannins, chlorogenic acid, monoterpenes, sterols, multiflorenol, quinone, epipinoresinol, caffeic acid, benzaldehyde, uridine 5-monophosphate, essential oils (camphor, 'ALFA'-pinene, benzyl alcohol, benzyl acetate, eugenol, linalool, and 'DELTA'-cadinol).
Asthma
Prepare 10 g of beluntas leaves, 10 g of torch ginger flowers, and 1 cup of water.
Boil all ingredients until 1/2 cup of water remains.
Drink the decoction twice daily, 1/2 cup each time.
Socfindo Conservation. 2023. Beluntas. https://www.socfindoconservation.co.id/plant/176 (23-05-2023)