
Combretum indicum
Genus: Combretum
Botanical name: Combretum indicum
PLANT NAME IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES
Sanskrit:
Hindi: Madhu Malati
English: Rangoon Creeper, Chinese honeysuckle, Combretum indicum, Burma creeper
Malayalam: Pullanni
MEDICINAL PROPERTIES
The Rangoon Creeper is a ligneous vine that can reach from 2.5 meters to up to 8 meters. The leaves are elliptical with an acuminate tip and a rounded base. They grow from 7 to 15 centimeters and their arrangement is opposite. The flowers are fragrant and tubular and their color varies from white to pink to red. The 30 to 35 mm long fruit is ellipsoidal and has five prominent wings. The fruit tastes like almonds when mature. The niyog-niyogan is usually dispersed by water.
The Rangoon Creeper plant is used as an herbal medicine. Decoctions of the root, seed or fruit can be used as antihelmintic to expel parasitic worms or for alleviatingdiarrhea. Fruit decoction can also be used for gargling. The fruits are also used to combat nephritis. Leaves can be used to relieve pain caused by fever. The roots are used to treat rheumatism.