Biophytum sensitivum (L.) Dc.

Species

Angiosperms > Oxalidales > Oxalidaceae > Biophytum

Characteristics

Annual. Stem simple, up to 35 cm, pithy (compressible), smooth. Leaves 7-12(-14)-jugate; rachis 5-10(-16½)cm, sparsely strigose; leaflets rarely overlapping; terminals 8-18 by 3-10 mm, ± asymmetric, falcate-obovate, midrib excentric; other leaflets symmetric, elliptic, margins ± parallel, base truncate, not drawn out, midrib median' apex rounded, apiculate, ± acroscopic; ± glabrous; nerves many, little conspicuous. Peduncles up to 14 cm, up to 10-flowered, appressed-strigose and with patent septate-glandular hairs. Pedicels 1½-3½ mm. Bracts ovate-attenuate, 1½-3 mm. Sepals 4-7 by ½-1½ mm, ovate-lanceolate, acute, strigose and glandular-hairy, in fruit 5-9-nerved, longer than pedicels, 1½-2 times as long as the fruit, ± shorter than the corolla. Petals 5-7 by 1-2 mm, lanceolate, truncate base yellow, limb with purplish and yellow lines. Filaments (MF) 1-½ and 2-2½ mm, the longer ciliate.Ovary ½-¾ by ⅓-½ mm, apically ciliate; styles (MF) ½-1 mm, often clasping the anthers of the longer filaments and tearing them off-stigmas flattened, crenate to bifid; ovules 2-5 per cell. Fruit 3-4 by 2 mm, apically puberulous and minutely septate-glandular hairy on the ribs Seeds 0-3 per cell, ¾-1 by ½-¾ mm, transversely tubercled and ridged.
More
Annuals 5-25 cm tall, base woody. Stem simple, slender to robust, hispid especially apically. Leaves 3-13 cm; rachis slender, moderately hispid; leaflets 6-14 pairs; leaflet blades oblong to obovate-oblong, 3-15 × 2-7 mm, usually glabrous, occasionally sparsely covered with trichomes, base almost symmetric. Umbels several flowered; peduncle 2-7 cm, subequal to leaf length; bracts several, lanceolate, ca. 2 mm, densely crowded at apex of peduncle, cluster ca. 3 mm. Pedicel ca. 1 mm at anthesis but to 3 mm in fruit. Sepals 5-6 mm, with glandular septate trichomes. Petals yellow, longer than sepals. Capsule ellipsoid-obovoid, 4-5 × 3-4 mm, pubescent. Fl. and fr. Jul-Dec.
Leaves 3–13 cm. long; leaflets up to 21-jugate, 3–8 × 2·5–5 mm., subsessile, opaque, usually square to oblong, slightly oblique, appressed-pilose or-pubescent, apex rounded, base truncate, with rather inconspicuous lateral nerves making an acute angle with the midrib; rhachis pilose.
Flowers white, pink, lilac or yellow, with pubescent pedicels up to 6 mm. long, in 3–10-flowered pseudumbels; peduncle up to 13 cm. long, pubescent, Sepals 4–5 × 1–1·5 mm., narrowly lanceolate, acuminate, acute, 3–5-nerved, pubescent.
An annual herb. It grows 10-40 cm high. The leaves are 3-13 cm long. There are 21 leaflets. They are 3-8 mm long by 3-5 mm wide. The flowers are white, yellow or pink.
Annual herb 10–40 cm. in height with a simple slender to rather stout stem with a single rosette of leaves at the apex.
Ovary deeply 5-lobed; styles 1–3 mm. long (said to be trimorphic), pubescent.
Seeds 0·5 × 0·3 mm., flattened-ellipsoid, minutely tuberculate, brown.
Stamens with 5 longer ones 3 mm. long and 5 shorter ones 1·5 mm. long.
Petals 7–8 mm. long, spathulate, glabrous.
Capsule 3 × 2 mm., obovate-ellipsoid.
Life form annual
Growth form herb
Growth support -
Foliage retention -
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.15 - 0.28
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

A tropical plant. It grows along riverbanks and in damp thickets. In southern China it grows on mountain slopes and forest floors between 100-700 m above sea level.
More
Shady places, waste land, river-banks, under damp thickets etc., at elevations up to 250 metres.
Shady places, waste land, river-banks under damp thickets, etc., up to 250 m. Fl fr Jan.-Dec.
Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture -
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 9-11

Usage

Uses. In the Philippines the powdered seeds are used as a vulnerary. A decoction of the roots is used for gonorrhoea and stones in the bladder. A decoction of the plant is said to cure diabetes mellitus, in the Sula Is. it is used for pregnancy diseases (BLOEMBERGEN 4365), on the Karo Plateau of N. Sumatra to diminish the female libido (GALOENGI 49), in Ternate for chest-complaints, here the ashes with lime-juice are given for stomach-aches. A reputed medicine for tuberculosis (HEYNE, 1927, BURKILL, 1935, and QUISUMBING, Medic. PL Philip., 1951).
Uses environmental use medicinal
Edible leaves shoots
Therapeutic use Ache(Stomach) (unspecified), Anaphrodisiac (Female) (unspecified), Burn (unspecified), Chest (unspecified), Collapse (unspecified), Contraceptive(Male) (unspecified), Diabetes (unspecified), Fever (unspecified), Gonorrhea (unspecified), Thirst (unspecified), Tuberculosis (unspecified), Tumor (unspecified), Vulnerary (unspecified), Wound (unspecified), Anodyne (unspecified), Diuretic (unspecified), Bilious (unspecified), Convulsion (unspecified), Fumitory (unspecified), Lithiasis (unspecified), Spasm (unspecified)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Can be grown by seedlings.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) 7 - 14
Germination temperacture (C°) 21
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Habit

Biophytum sensitivum habit picture by Noel Dionson (cc-by-sa)

Leaf

Biophytum sensitivum leaf picture by Sumangala Devi (cc-by-sa)
Biophytum sensitivum leaf picture by Abraham Zachariah (cc-by-sa)
Biophytum sensitivum leaf picture by Sunny M (cc-by-sa)

Flower

Biophytum sensitivum flower picture by anilkumar ayyappan (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Biophytum sensitivum world distribution map, present in Bangladesh, Central African Republic, China, Cameroon, Indonesia, India, Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Thailand, Taiwan, Province of China, and Viet Nam

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:371965-1
WFO ID wfo-0000565531
COL ID 68KPN
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID 705942
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Toddavaddia sensitiva Biophytum candolleanum Biophytum cumingianum Biophytum cumingii Oxalis sensitiva Biophytum somnulentum Oxalis cumingiana Biophytum poterioides Biophytum sesbanioides Biophytum sensitivum var. assamica Biophytum sensitivum var. candolleanum Biophytum sensitivum var. cumingianum Biophytum sensitivum var. medium Biophytum sensitivum var. poterioides Biophytum sensitivum var. sesbanioides Biophytum sensitivum