Economic Biology

ORNAMENTAL PLANTS

Reported by:

John Daniel P. Gumban

BS Biology 4-2

Submitted by:

Prof. Carmelita S. Mapanao

July 20, 2011

INTRODUCTION Ornamental plants are plants which are grown for display purposes, rather than functional ones. (Smith, 2003). In general, the term "ornamental plant" or "ornamental" is used to describe those plant species primarily cultivated for their aesthetically pleasing characteristics such as form, bark, leaves and flowers (Miller, 1990). 1. Cadena de Amor (Antigonon leptopus) Common names: Cadena-de-amor (Span., Tag.) Coral vine (Engl.) Chinese love vine (Engl.) Coralila, coralita (jamaica) Botany A climbing, somewhat woody, perennial vine, stems attaining a length of 10 meters. Leaves are alternate, ovate to oblong-ovate, with cordate base, serrate margins, up to 14 cm long. Flowers are borne in racemes at the upper axils of the terminal parts of the branches. Flowers are pale to deep pink, 2 cm long, with 5-parted and persistent perianth. Fruit is ovoid, about 1 cm long, broad at the base, narrowing towards the tip, loosely surrounded by the persistent lobes of the flower. Constituents and properties A methanol extract of the aerial part of the flower yielded (1) nhentriacontane (1), ferulic acid (2), 4-hydroxycinnamic acid (3), quercetin3-rhamnoside (4), and kaempherol-3-glucoside (5) along with ?-sitosterol, ?-sitosterol-glucoside and d-mannitol. COX inhibitory properties and antithrombin activities.

Uses (Folkloric) In the Philippines, an isolated report of use by Ifugao-migrants in the foothills of the Sierra Madre for wound closure.

2. Pukingan (Clitotia tematea)

Common names Balog-balog (C. Bis.) Giting-princesa (Bik.) Kolokanting (Tag.) Kalompagi (Ilk.) Pukingan (Tag.) Puki-reyna (Tag.) Samsampin (Pang.) Samsamping (Ilk.) Kajroti (India) Blue pea (Engl.) Butterfly pea (Engl.) Botany A twining herb or climbing vine with cylindrical and slender stems, up to 1 cm in diameter. Leaflets are 5 to 7, elliptic to oblong, 3 to 7 cms in length. Flowers: solitary; the corolla about 3 to 4 cm long, blue with a white, yellowish, or pale-blue center. Pods are 5 to 10 cms long, flat, with 6 to 10 seeds.

Properties and constituents Roots are diuretic. mildly purgative or laxative. The seeds are vomiting, diuretic and emmenagogue. An alcoholic extract is used as a cathartic. The roots taken as purgative, have been reported to be toxic and narcotic, causing irritability, loss of memory or unconciousness. Studies have isolated triterpenoids, flavonol glycosides, anthocyanins and steroids. Studies have shown pharmacologic activities: antimicrobial, antipyretic, antiinflammatory, analgesic, diuretic, anesthetic, antidiabetic, insecticidal, vascular smooth-muscle relaxing and platelet-aggregation inhibiting activity.

Uses (Folkloric)

Infusion of leaves is used for eruptions. Warm leaf juice mixed wit common salt is applied around the ears for earache. Leaves are used as poultices for swollen joints.Seeds are mildly laxative and purgative; also, antihelminthic. In India, the white flowered specie is considered superior to the blue variety. The roots of the blue flowered variety is used for piles. For earaches, the juice of the blue variety is used. For hiccups, the seeds are burned

for fume inhaltion; same also used for asthma. Also used for throat, eye infections, skin diseases. To hasten delivery twinning branches of the white flowered variety are wrapped around the waist. Root ash is used for facial care. Root powder is used for jaundice. For renal stones, the roots used with boiled rice. Root juice, applied in the nose for migraine. For painful boils, mix the root juice with vinegar and apply to the boils.A traditional Ayurveda medicine as a brain tonic, memory and intelligence enhancer, antidepressant, antistress,anxiolytic, sedative and anticonvulsant. In South Travancore, India, leaf juice taken twice daily for 6 days for scabies.source In West Bengal, root juice used for fevers.

3. Santan(Ixora coccinea) Common names Santan-pula (Tag.) Tangpupo (Bis.) Flame of the woods (Engl.) Jungle flame (Engl.) Jungle geranium (Engl.) Dwarf santan (Engl.)

Botany Ornamental plant is an erect and smooth shrub, growing to a height of 2 to 3 meters. Leaves are stalkless or on very short stalks, oblong, 5 to 9 cm long, heart-shaped or round at the base and blunt at the tip. Flowers are many, pink or red, and borne in terminal, stalkless or shortly stalked hairy cymes. Corolla tube is slender, 2.5 cm long; lobes are spreadiing and oblong, about half the length of the tube. Fruit is reddish, almost round, about 5 mm diameter.

Constituents and properties

Root contains an aromatic acrid oil, tannin, fatty acids. Leaves yield flavonols kaemferol and quercetin, proanthocyanidins and phenolic acids and ferulic acids. Flowers contain cyanidin and flaconboids, and a coloring material related to quercitin. Considered internally sedative, stomachic, tonic, antiseptic, cholagogue and externally astringent and antiseptic.

Uses (Folkloric) Used for dysenteric diarrhea and associated colic pains. Decoction of roots used for nausea, hiccups, and anorexia. Flowers used for dysentery and leucorrhea. Poulticed fresh leaves and stems for sprains, eczema, boils and contusions. Diluted tincture of roots for mouthwash and gargles for sore throat. Flower decoction for hypertension, amenorrhea and irregular menstruation. Decoction of leaves for wounds and skin ulcers. In Bengal, roots are used for dysentery. Root, ground into pulp, mixed with water and pepper, or as tincture, used for diarrhea and dysentery. Powdered roots used for sores and chronic ulcers. In Indo-China, root decoction used to clarify the urine. In India and Sri Lanka, the fruits are eaten and the flowers used as flavoring. 4. Bulaklak ng Parasiso (Caesalpinia pulcherrima) Common names Bulaklak ng paraiso (Tag.) Caballero (Span., Tag.) Flor de San Francisco (Span.) Paradise flower (Engl.) Peacock flower (Engl.) Barbados pride (Engl.)

Botany

An erect, smooth shrub or small tree, 1.5 to 5 meters high. The branches are armed with a few scattered spines. Leaves are bipinnate, 4-8 pairs, 6 to 12 cm long. Leaflets are stalkless, 7 to 11 pairs, elliptic, and 1 ro 2 cm long. Flowers are red and yellow, borne on terminal racemes, about 4 cm in diameter. Petals are crisp and clawed. The pod is nearly straight, flat, smooth, 5-8 cm long and 1.5 cm wide, containing 6-8 seeds. Constituents and chemical properties Leaves contain gallic acid, gum, tannin, resin, benzoic acid, and salts. The odor of the plant resembles savin. Antiinflammatory, antiviral. Leaves reported to be purgative and emmenagogue. Flowers are reported to be tonic, purgative, febrifuge, and emmenagogue. Seeds, flowers and roots are reported to be abortifacient

Uses (Folkloric) Decoction of roots used for fevers. Infusion of the bark used as wash for the teeth and gums. Infusion of leaves used for colds, fevers, skin ailments and purging. Reported to be abortifacient. Decoction of leaves used as mouth wash and gargle for mouth ulcers. Decoction of flowers used for erysipelas and inflammation of the eyes. Powdered flowers used as insecticide. Fruit is astringent and used for diarrhea and dysentery. 5. Corona de espina Euphorbia milli) Common names Corona de espina (Span.) Crown of thorns (Engl.)

Botany Erect and branched shrub growing up to a meter high, with cylindric or obscurely angled branches lined with stiff, slender, divergent spines. Leaves are few, alternate, pale green, oblong-obovate, or short acuminate, up to 5 cm long. Inflorescences arise from the upper leaf axils and is peduncled with 2-4 involucres in each peduncle, each involucre with 2 spreading red kidney-shaped lobes. Uses (Folkloric) No reported folkloric medicinal use in the Philippines. Popular use in South Brazil as "dragon's blood," the red latex from Christ's crown Euphorbia milli (Euphorbiaceae) as a treatment for warts. In Chinese folk medicine, euphorbia compounds used in cancer treatment.

6. Sampagita (Jasminum sambac) Common names Hasak. Arabian jasmin, Tuscan Jasmin (Engl.) Hubar (Sul.) Jasmin (Engl.) Kampupot (Pamp., Tag.) Kulatai (Pamp.) Lumabi (Mag.) Malul (Mag.) Malur (Sul.) Manul (Bis.) Pongso (Pamp.) Sambac (Engl.) Sampagita (Tag.) Sampaguita (Engl.) Mo li hua (Chin.)

Botany Spreading or sprawling shrub, usually less than 2 m in height. Leaves are glossy, ovate or rounded and 6 to 12 cm long, with short stalks, pointed or blunt tip and pointed or rounded base. Flowers are white, very fragrant and borne singly or in 3's in axillary or terminal inflorescence. Calyx teeth are 8 to 10, very slender, 5 to 8 mm long. Corolla tube is slender and 1 to 1.5 cm long, the limb is usually double and 1.5 to 2 cm in diameter. Stamens, 2, included, ovary, 2-celled. Constituents Tannins, fats, silicon, iron, glucosides, calcium oxalate, essential oil from the flowers is similar to jasmin (Jasminum grandiflores) Phytochemical study yielded alkaloids, glycoside, flavanoid, terpines, tannin, resin and salicylic acid. From the roots, study yielded: dotriacontanoic acid, dotriacontanol, oleanolic acid, daucoste4rol and hesperidin. Uses (folkloric) Flowers used to make jasmine tea. Ornamental. A favorite floral offering and adornment for altars. Fever or cough: Take decoction of flowers or leaves as needed. Ulcers: Pound flowers or leaves and apply on affected areas. Fever, abdominal distention, and diarrhea: use 3 to 6 gm of dried flowers or leaves, combined with other drug materials, use in decoction form.

Reddening and swelling pain in the eye, use decoction of dried flowers as eyewash. Sprains and fractures: use root material in combination with other drugs and apply as external poultice. Flavor: Use flowers to flavor tea. Lactifuge: Bruised leaves are applied to the breasts.

7. Mayana (Coleus scutellarioides) Common names Benth Dafronaya (Span.) Daponaya (Bis.) Lapunaya (Bis.) Malaina (Tag.) Saimayu (Sul.) Taponaya (Bis.) Tapunaya (Bis.) Coleus (Engl.) Painted nettle (Engl.) Ahijado (Span.) Botany Erect, branched, fleshy annual herb, about 1 m high. Stems, purplish and 4-angled. Leaves are blotched or colored, ovate, 5-10 cm long, with toothed margins. Flowers are purplish, numerous, in simple or branched inflorescences, 15-30 cm long. Constituents Volatile oils. From the leaves, study isolated a mixture of sterols and triterpenes, campesterol, a-amyrin and b-amyrin.

Uses (Folkloric) Bruises and sprains: Crush or pound 10-12 leaves and apply over the ankles, wrists or affected areas for 30 minutes, three times daily. Use a bandage to hold the poultice in place. Carminative: Take decoctions of leaves. Headache: Pound leaves and apply over temples and nape. Mild bleeding of wounds: Wash the young leaves; crush and extract the juice. Drop a few drops of the juice directly on the wound. Apply the crushed leaves as poultice. Sinusitis: Heat 10-12 fresh leaves over a fire; apply while still hote over the forehead for the frontal sinues or over the cheeks for the maxillary sinuses, twice daily. Dyspepsia: Decoction, taken internally. Eyedrops for eye inflammation. Reported use in Asian

traditional medicine for asthma, angina, bronchitis, epilepsy, insomnia, skin rashes and various digestive problems.

8. Kalachuchi (Plumeria rubra) TEMPLE FLOWER, FRANGIPANI Common names Kachuchi (C. Bis.) Kalachuche (Tag., Bik.) Kalasusi (Tag.) Kalatsutsi (Tag.) Kalanuche (Ilk.) Kalonoche (Ilk.) Karachucha (Tag.) Karatuche (Tag.) Frangipani (Engl.) Flor de Mayo (Mexico) Temple flower (Engl.)

Botany Small tree, 3 to 7 m high, stem smooth and shining, succulent, with abundant white latex; easily breaks.Leaves: crowded at the terminal end of the branch, commonly oblong in shape, reaching a length of 40 cm and a width of 7 cm. Flowers: fragrant, the upper portion whitish, while the inner lower portion yellow, 5 - 6 cm long. Fruits: linear-oblong or ellipsoid follicles.

Uses (Folkloric) Decoction of bark is used as purgative, emmenagogue, and febrifuge. Preventive for heat stroke: the material may be taken as a cooling tea. For dysentery, diarrhea during summer season: use 12 to 24 gms of dried material in decoction. Arthritis, rheumatism, pruritic skin lesions: Mix the latex (sap) with coconut oil, warm, and apply to affected area. Decoction of the bark is used as a counterirritant on the gums for toothache.The latex mixed with coconut oil is used for itching. The juice is rubefacient in rheumatic pains, and with camphor, is also used for itching.A poultice of heated leaves is beneficial for swellings. Decoction of leaves for cracks and eruptions of the soles of the feet. Infusion or extract from leaves is used for asthma.

9. Boto (Scaevola taccada) Common names Balak-balak (Tag.) Bokabok (Tag., Bis.) Blanco Bosboron (Tag., Bis.) Boto (Tag., Bis.) Chalmalukung (Ilk.) Dudukdukin (Ilk.) Hulbo (Bik.) Linu (Tag.) Linog (Sbl.) Marokborok (Tag.) Mosboron (Tag., Bis.) Panabolong (Tag., Bis.) Pagangtolon (Tag., Bis.) Tagustus (Bis.) Scaevola (Engl.) Beach naupaka (Engl.) Botany Boto is a large, spreading shrub with loose bark and a stout stem and branches. Leaves are crowded in the axil, alternate, obovate or obovate-oblong, 12 to 25 cm in length, 6 to 10 cm or more wide, and silky, with an obtuse tip which tapers to a wedge-shaped base. Flowers are white, tinged with purple, about 2.5 cm long, and borne in considerable numbers in axillary cymes. Calyx-lobes are linear-lanceolate, 3 to 6 mm long, and obtuse and enlarged in fruit. Corolla-tube is 1.5 to 1.8 cm long, obliquely split to the base behind, narrow, and hairy; the lobes lanceolate, and 6 to 8 mm long. Fruit is a drupe, ovoid, somewhat rounded, 1 to 1.5 cm long, longitudinally ridged and very succulent.

Constituents Bark and leaves yield a bitter principle and glucoside. -sitosterol--D-glucoside, mannitol has been isolated. Plant yields imperatorin marmesin coumarins. Uses (Folkloric) In the Philippines, juice of ripe fruit used for cleaning opacities of the eyes. Decoction of roots used for beriberi and certain syphilitic affections; also for

dysentery. In Ambonia, juice of fruit is instilled by natives into the eyes to clear opacities and improve dimness of vision. As a cataplasm, fruit is used for tumors; internally, induces menstruation.

10. Rose (Rosa canina)

Botany The plant is a woody evergreen shrub, densely branching with thick masses of tiny, green leaves. Properties and constituents Contains the alkaloid buxine which causes nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.. Cycloprotobuxine, another alkaloid present in small amount, is being investigated as an anticancer agent. Uses (Folkloric) No reported folkloric medicinal use in the Philippines. In Tunisia, considered antineoplastic. In Italy, employed as antimalarial.