Turk's Turban

Overview

Turk's turban is considered to be native to India and Nepal, eastward to Myanmar, southern China, Indo-China, Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia. The plant is commonly used as a standard drug in India and harvested from the wild for local use as medicine. It is often grown as an ornamental.

Vernacular Names

Penatoh (Malay), Leng chon tai (Thai), Ngayan-padu (Myanmar), Bharangi (India), Chang guan da qing (Chinese).

Agroecology

Found in roadsides on mountain slopes; at elevations from 500-1,000 m. It can tolerate a wide range of soil types, but prefers moist but well-drained soil and partial shade to full sun. It has low tolerance for salt but is fairly drought-resistant.

Morphology

• Roots - light brown in color and more than 2.5 cm in diameter.
• Stems - very straight or arching, mostly unbranched, hollow, subglabrous, virgate, nodes annulate.
• Leaves - linear-lanceolate to oblanceolate, base attenuate to acute, apex acute or acuminate, mostly entire, glabrous on both surfaces. The leaf margin is dentate (toothed)
• Flowers - bisexual, waxy, terminal panicle up to 45 cm × 25 cm, composed of 3-12 whorls of cymes; calyx very broadly campanulate, tube 5-7 mm long, green or red, corolla hypocrateriform, tube long and slender, white to yellow, showy, not fragrant, stamens long exserted, purple.
• Fruits - 1-1.3 cm in diameter with 4 pyrenes, fleshy, bright green turning blue-black or reddish-black.

Cultivation

• By seeds - best sown as soon as it is ripe. Germination can be erratic but usually takes place within 20-60 days at 20 °C. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on until large enough to plant out.
• By root cuttings: 6- 8 cm long.
• By division.

Chemical Constituents

Hydroquinone, diterpenoid, clerodendrone, alkaloid, resin, cholesterol, beta-sitosterol,, manitol, sorbitol, steroid, flavanoid, tannin, saponin, dihydroxyphenylethanol, hispidulin, glucuronide, eupafolin, scutellarein, clerodendrol, roseoside and lariciresinol 9-O-β-D-glucoside.

Traditional Medicinal Uses

• The root is stomachic, expectorant, anti-inflammatory, anti-bronchitis, febrifuge, hence useful for asthma, cough, and scrofulous affection.
• The leaves are used as a bitter tonic, to treat cough and vermifuge.
• The juice of the tender parts of the plant is used as an external application for skin complaints.
• The pounded root, combined with ginger, is considered useful in the treatment of asthma, coughs and other pulmonary complaints as well as scrofulous affections.
• The leaves and the roots are used externally to treat tumours and certain skin diseases.
• The root increases appetite and lowers fever (Unani medicine).
• In New Caledonia, the leaves are used as a bitter tonic and vermifuge.
• In Burma (Myanmar), resin from the plant is employed for syphilitic rheumatism.
• In Java (Indonesia), dried leaves are rolled into cigarettes to relieve asthma