Combretum indicum

Scientific name: Combretum indicum (L.) DeFilipps

Family: Combretaceae

Synonym: Quisqualis indica L.

Bengali/Vernacular name: Modhumanjuri.

Tribal name: Payng-she-cha (Chak), Daway-ma-apnag (Rakhaing).

English name: Rangoon-creeper, Chinese honey-suckle.

Description of the plant: A large climbing, woody shrub. Leaves papyraceous, elliptic or elliptic oblong, apex acuminate, base rounded, margin entire. Flowers are fragrant, tubular,  pendulous, showy, first white, then becoming red, reddish-purple or orange, exhibiting the range of colours in clusters, on the same flower stalk. Fruit is narrowly ellipsoid.

Plant parts used: Leaf, seed.

Ethnomedicinal uses: Paste prepared from the leaves of the plant is applied forehead twice a day until the headache is cured.

Roasted seeds of the plant are used for fever.

A decoction is made with the plant is given to treat flatulence.

Juice extracted from the leaves of the plant, after adding sugar, salt, and water, and then it is taken three times a day for five days to treat diarrhoea.

A paste is made with the leaves and stems of the plant are applied externally for the treatment of boils and skin ulcers.

Decoction prepared from the leaves of the plant is advised to take for the treatment of dysuria.

Distribution: The species occurs throughout the country under planted condition.

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