Chinese Violet

Overview

Telosma cordata or Chinese Violet is a species of flowering plant from the Apocynaceae family that originates from India, Burma, Indochina and Southern China. This plant is widely cultivated in Southeast Asia, especially in Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia. This plant has also been introduced and cultivated in Java since the seventeenth century. T. cordata is often planted by people as an ornamental plant that produces fragrant flowers, and is also harvested for its edible leaves and flowers. The flower extract produces oil that can be used to make perfume. The flowers can also be enjoyed as a herbal tea. Apart from that, T. cordata has a function as a medicinal plant which is believed to be able to treat various human disease complaints.

Vernacular Names

Ye lai xiang (Chinese), Parfum nocturne (French), Fragrancia nocturna (Spanish), Hoa thien ly (Vietnamese), Patpatayok (Philippines).

Agroecology

Naturally found in secondary forests, bushlands and open forests in the lowlands in subtropical and tropical areas, it is also cultivated in home gardens. This plant thrives in full sun on fertile, well-drained sandy loam soil, with an optimal pH of 6.1-7.5. Tolerant of drought and poor soil but sensitive to flooding and cold.

Morphology

• Stems - 1-10 m, yellowish green, pubescent when new, those of previous year pale gray, glabrescent, usually sparsely lenticellate.
• Leaves - heart-shaped, growing in pairs. Leaf is about 4–7.5 cm wide and about 6–11 cm long with smooth underside; thin, with clearly veined. The leaf is very thin and clearly veined. Petiole 1.5-5 cm; leaf blade ovate, 4-12 × 3-10 cm, base deeply cordate with narrow sinus, apex acuminate; basal veins 3, lateral veins to 6 pairs.
• Flowers - bloom as a bouquet of about 10–20 flowers, greenish yellow, about 1.5 cm diameter, with 5 petals and 5 stamens connected to each other and to the pistils. Flowers are strongly fragrant in the evening. 
• Fruits - smooth, green and round with pointed ends, containing many flat seeds with white fluff attached to the ends
• Seeds - broadly ovate, 1 × 1 cm, flat, apex truncate, margin membranous; coma 3-4 cm.

Cultivation

Plant propagation through stem cuttings and seeds.

Chemical Constituents

Flavonoids (quercetin, kaempferol), tannins, alkaloids, coumarins, phenols, saponins, anthraquinones, essential oils (geraniol, β-ionone, dihydro-β-ionone, dihydro-β-ionol and cis-aspiranol and trans-aspiranol), four lutein compounds, I-dotriacontanol, 24 E -stigmasta-5,22-dien-3β-ol, and daucosterol.

Traditional Medicinal Uses

• Studies have suggested antioxidant, anticancer, hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, fragrant properties.
• Used for fever, poison antidote, tranquilizer, and treatment for back pain.
• Flower oil used for conjunctivitis.
• In Myanmar, tender leaves eaten as medicine for alcohol dependence and mental disorders.