Chenille Plant

Overview

A tropical shrub native to the South Pacific, the Chenille plant (New Guinea and the Malay Archipelago). For medicinal usage, it is often harvested from the wild and cultivated as a hedge. The female type is often grown as an ornamental in tropical areas, valued particularly for its profusion of showy red inflorescence. If swallowed, all portions of the plant are poisonous.
 

Vernacular Names

Cauda-de-raposa (Brazilian), Gou wei hong (Chinese), Ricinelle (French), Roter Katzenschwanz (German), Ekor kucing (Malay), Buntot-pusa (Philippines), Rabo de Gato (Portuguese), Acalifa (Spanish), Kattsvans (Swedish), and Tai turong duoi chon (Vietnamese).

Agroecology

A. hispida is found at elevations of 100-1,260 m in secondary forest and roadsides. It is a rapidly growing plant in a sunny or partly shaded location and prefers a moist but well-drained soil. It succeeds in tolerating acidic to slightly alkaline conditions in most forms of soil. It thrives in maximum sunshine, wet, and humid summer climates.

Morphology

• Stems - erect and soft stems.
• Leaves  - 2-11 cm long, broad-ovate, bright green at the top, pale green below with crenulate-serrate margins, alternate, petioled.
• Flowers - The inflorescence is axillary, solitary, in long suspended spikes, up to 1540 cm long, dioecious, producing small and bright red male and female flowers on various plants. They emerge from the leaf axils, as they mature, are very long-lasting, gradually fading and browning, but daily dead-heading will facilitate more blooms for the spent flowers.
   

Cultivation

• Propagation is by green shoot cuttings (leaf cuttings) and semi-ripe wood cuttings (stem cuttings).
• To flower well it needs bright light and warm temperatures.

Chemical Constituents

• Flavonoids, Phenolics, Alkaloids, Gallic acid, Corilagin, Cycloartane-type triterpenoids, Quercetin, Kaempferol derivative, Tannins, Anthraquinones, Cardiac glycosides, Hydroxyanthraquinones, Saponins, Steroids, Phlobatannins .
   

Traditional Medicinal Uses

• Diuretic, emollient, expectorant and laxative plants are present.
• Antidiarrheal, anti-leishmanial, antioxidant, trypanocidal, anti-ulcer, antitumor, anti-inflammatory properties are suggested in studies. 
• In Indonesia a root and flower decoction is used for hemoptysis. Leaf poultice, which is used for leprosy. The leaves are used for the treatment of thrushes.
• In Malaysia decoction of leaves and flowers is taken internally as a laxative and gonorrhea diuretic and applied externally as an emollient to wounds and ulcers. Bark is used for asthma and for expectorants.
• In Africa, bark and root are used for respiratory issues, leaf for leprosy, and flower for kidney disorders and as a diuretic.
• In West Nigeria, leaves and stems are soaked and boiled in water, used for skin rashes.
• In India, the Mawasi tribal has been recorded to use flowers for diarrhea .