Getonia floribunda

Scientific name: Getonia floribunda Roxb.

Family: Combretaceae

Synonym: Calycopteris floribunda (Roxb.) Lam. ex Poir.

Bengali/Vernacular name: Guichia lata.

Tribal name: Chui-daw (Rakhaing).

English name: Paper flower climber.

Description of the plant: A scandent shrub, 2-4 m high, with drooping branches. Leaves ovate to narrowly elliptic, apex acuminate, base cuneate. Flowers sessile, yellowish green, in fulvous-pubescent terminal panicles. Fruits narrowly ellipsoid-oblong, obtusely 5-angled.

Plant parts used: Leaf.

Ethnomedicinal uses: Juice prepared from the leaves of the plant is taken for the treatment of diarrhoea and dysentery.

A paste is made with the leaves of the plant is applied on the skin for seven days to treat leprosy.

Decoction prepared from the leaves of the plant is taken thrice a day (10 ml amount each time) for two weeks to treat malaria fever.

A fresh juice is extracted from the leaves of the plant is applied on the biting place twice a day for three days to treat snake bite.

Distribution: It is common in greater Chittagong and Sylhet districts and the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

Is this plant misidentified? If yes, please tell us….