Shield aralia

Overview

Shield aralia is originated from Malayan. This plant is rarely flowers in South East Asia. It is commonly planted as ornamental plant, valued especially for its showy foliage. The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as food and medicine.

Vernacular Names

Yuan ye nan yang shen (Chinese), Semangkok (Malaysia), Krut kra thong (Thailand), Dinh lang dia (Vietnamese), Danidani (Fiji Island), Platito (Philippines).

Agroecology

This plant succeeds in full sun to partial shade. Adaptable to most soils as long as they are well-drained. It prefers a fairly sunny to half-shady situation in fairly moist soil, although they do not actually need a high light environment, leaf edges may turn brown in too much sunlight.

Morphology

• Stems - woody, branched, round, long and straight.
• Leaves - simple, somewhat rounded and concave, saucer-like, 6 to 12 cm wide, heart-shaped at the base and distantly toothed in the margins.
• The inflorescence - terminal, erect, a panicle of umbels; primary axis 30-100 cm; secondary axes 15-30, in 2-4 verticils, 15-50 cm.
• Fruits - infrequently seen, subglobose to depressed-globose (somewhat triangular to quadrangular when 3 or 4-carpellate), 4-6 mm high.

Cultivation

Propagation by stem tip cuttings.

Chemical Constituents

Ascorbic acid, phenol, carotenoids, beta carotene, polyciasaponin, alkaloids, flavonoid, tannin, proxidase, anthocyanin.

Traditional Medicinal Uses

• Studies have shown hair growth activity, wound healing, lipid peroxidation inhibition, and antibacterial/acinetobacter/body odor.
• The leaves and the roots, combined with parsley, are used as a diuretic.
• The juice of the leaves has been used to relieve stomach aches and facilitate childbirth.
• In Indonesia, leaf juice mixed with coconut oil and turmeric, applied over breast engorgement. Coconut oil with leaf juice of N. scutellarium is gently massaged to the scalp to promote hair growth. Shoots and leaves used for urinary problems.
• In the Western Pacific, macerated bark used for treatment of ciguatera poisoning.
• In Papua New Guinea, leaves are used as stimulant.