Wikstroemia indica
Species of plant
Wikstroemia indica, also known as tie bush, Indian stringbush, bootlace bush, or small-leaf salago (Chinese: 了哥王; pinyin: liǎo gē wáng; Vietnamese: dó liệt) is a small shrub with glossy leaves, small greenish-yellow flowers and toxic red fruits. It grows in forests and on rocky, shrubby slopes in central and southeastern China, Vietnam, India, Australia and the Philippines.
01Toxicity
W. indica is toxic and the poisoning caused by W. indica leads to dizziness, blurred vision, nausea, vomiting, abdominal distension, abdominal pain and diarrhea.
02Uses
It is one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine. As a traditional Chinese herb, this plant has long been employed as an antipyretic, detoxicant, expectorant, vermifuge, and abortifacient in clinical practice in China.
In Vinh, paper made by hand from the phloem fibers of W. indica is used for packaging freshly caught fish. To make the paper, peeled bark of W. indica is harvested in Quỳnh Lưu and shipped in dehydrated bales to Nghi Lộc, where the fibers are rehydrated, scraped, cooked, beaten into pulp, bleached, rinsed, suspended in water, and cast into sheets using large moulds made of mosquito netting and rebar, which are then left in the sun. Once dry, the resulting sheets are peeled from their moulds, folded in quarters, and sold to fishermen in Vinh. The paper helps to keep fish fresh, and prevents it from drying out during cooking.
03Chemicals
An alcoholic extract of the plant was found to contain daphnoretin, chrysophanol, myricitrime and rutin. The extract of W. indica displays antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activities in vitro.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Wikstroemia indica”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Wikstroemia indica fruit.jpg by Mark Marathon, CC BY-SA 4.0
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