Morinda officinalis F.C.How

Species

Angiosperms > Gentianales > Rubiaceae > Morinda

Characteristics

Lianas; branches surrounded at base by persistent leafless stipules, when young strigillose, hirtellous, or pilose, becoming glabrescent and scabrous, angled, brown or bluish black. Leaves opposite; petiole 4-11 mm, densely puberulent, strigillose, hirtellous, or hirsute to glabrescent; blade drying papery, on both surfaces brown to yellow-brown, shiny to matte adaxially, matte abaxially, ovate-oblong, obovate-oblong, or elliptic, 6-13 × 3-6 cm, adaxially sparsely strigillose, hirtellous, or hirsute to glabrescent, abaxially glabrous or sparsely hirtellous along principal veins, base obtuse, rounded, cuneate, or acute, apex acute, obtuse, or rounded and abruptly mucronulate; secondary veins (4 or)5-7 pairs, with small pilosulous domatia; stipules fused into a spathe or tube, 3-5 mm, membranous, puberulent to hirtellous, truncate, on each side 2-denticulate. Inflorescence terminal; peduncles 1-7 or 15-25, umbellate or fasciculate, 0.1-1 cm, densely hirtellous to strigillose, as a group usually subtended by 1 or 2 stipuliform bracts; heads 1 per peduncle, subglobose to hemispherical, 5-7 mm in diam., 1-3-or 4-10-flowered. Flowers fused for ca. half of hypanthium, biology not noted. Calyx puberulent to glabrous; limb 1-1.5 mm, lobed for ca. 1/2; lobes 2-4, triangular, sometimes markedly unequal on an individual flower, obtuse to acute. Corolla white, campanulate or urceolate, outside puberulent, hirtellous, or glabrescent; tube 3-4 mm, inside densely villosulous from middle of tube to throat; lobes (2-)4, lanceolate or narrowly oblong, 3-4 mm, apically thickened and rostrate. Drupecetum globose to oblate, 5-11 mm in diam. Drupes fully fused, red, subglobose, 4-5 mm. Fl. May-Jul, fr. Oct-Nov.
More
An evergreen woody creeper. The bark of the root is enlarged in some places to form fleshy sections 1-2 cm across. It is greyish-yellow outside. It is roughened with lines along it. There are also cracks across it. The young branches are softly hairy. The leaves are opposite and oblong. They are 6-10 cm long by 3-5 cm wide. They can taper to the tip. The leaves have a few hairs. The flowers are white and without stalks. There are 2-10 flowers joined together in a head. These are 5-9 mm across. The fruit are fleshy and made up of several parts joined together. They are yellow-red and almost round. They are 6-11 mm across. There are several woody stones inside. These are pitted and have an oblong seed.
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Growth support climber
Foliage retention evergreen
Sexuality hermaphrodite
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JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
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AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
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Environment

It is a tropical plant. It is native to southern China. It grows in forests on mountains between 100-500 m above sea level. It is best with temperatures of 21-23°C. It can tolerate shade.
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Usage

The root is used fresh or dried and cooked with pork to make a broth.
Uses medicinal
Edible roots
Therapeutic use Cholecystitis (unspecified), Debility (unspecified), Enuresis (unspecified), Hernia (unspecified), Lumbago (unspecified), Polyuria (unspecified), Ejaculation (unspecified), Impotency (unspecified), Notalgia (unspecified), Cancer (unspecified)
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Cultivation

It can ge grown from cuttings or division of the root stock.
Mode cuttings
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Distribution

Morinda officinalis world distribution map, present in China

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:756442-1
WFO ID wfo-0000246041
COL ID 44DLF
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Morinda officinalis Morinda officinalis var. hirsuta Morinda officinalis var. officinalis