
Chonemorpha fragrans
(Moon) Alston
C.
macrophylla
(Roxb.)G.Don
APOCYNACEAE
Vernacular
names:
Kannada Malayalam Sanskrit
-
Chandra hoovina balli
-
Belutta kaka kodi, Appuppan thadi - Murva, Morala
Threat
status:
Endangered (A 1 c)
- KA
Vulnerable (A 1 c) - KL
Data
Deficient -
TN
Habit: Large woody climber
Habitat: Moist deciduous to
evergreen forest
Altitude: 600 - 1200 m
Distribution:
Global: India, Sri
Lanka, Myanmar, Malaysia. National: Occurs in the Western
Ghats in Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and
the tropical Himalayan belt of Megalaya, Assam,
Arunachal
Pradesh and
Uttar Pradesh.
Regional: In Karnataka
and Kerala, occasional almost throughout
the moist zones of higher altitudes. In Tamil Nadu, earlier
reported only from Nilgiris.
Description: A large woody
climber. Bark grey, thin, lenticellate, exuding white
sticky thick latex. Branchlets densely tomentose. Leaves
opposite, broadly egg-shaped-orbicular or elliptic, 15-25 x
12-20 cm, base deeply heart-shaped, apex shortly acuminate,
margin entire, pubescent above and densely tomentose beneath;
lateral nerves about
10 pairs,
distinct, arching along the margins with prominent
reticulations; leaf stalks 1.5-2.5 cm long, stout, tomentose.
Flowers bisexual, arranged in long peduncled terminal
cymes; corolla wheel-shaped, about 10 cm across, with about 5 cm
long tube, white with yellow throat, turning light yellow,
fragrant. Follicles
usually in
pairs, each about 30 x 2 cm, linear, woody, slightly 4-angled,
hairless. Seeds many, ovoid, each 2 cm long,
hairless, with about 4.5 cm long white-coloured hairs known as
'coma'.
Phenology:
Flowering:
January to
April; Fruiting: May to December
. Medicinal
uses:
The parts and their uses are similar to
Marsdenia
tenacissima.
Roots are
bitter, laxative and used in skin diseases, leprosy, scabies,
constipation, syphilis, indigestion, hyperacidity, cardiac
debility, diabetes, jaundice, cough, bronchitis and intermittent
fever. Also controls acute kapha and vata as well
as cures vomiting and purifies blood.
Trade
information:
Regional.
Reportedly the roots are traded in Kerala under the name
Perum kurumba. The dried roots priced at Rs.2.40/Kg. (Kerala,
1993).
Mode of
propagation:
By seeds
and stem cuttings
Special
characters:
All parts of
this plant exude a sticky milky latex when bruised. Mature stems
at lower regions exfoliate into prominent flakes called 'cork'.
Flowers are large fragrant white while fruits are long and
paired. Inside the basal portion of the calyx tube is a ring of
glands.