Botanical Description
A twiner. Stem 0.3-0.4 cm or more in diameter, exuding milky sap, lenticillate and finely striated, glabrous; nodes distinct; internodes up to 29 cm or more in length; outer bark variegated grayish brown, cream and light green; inner bark light brown. Sometimes young, slender, leafless twigs can be found arising from the nodes. Leaves opposite, simple, exstipulate, entire, elliptic, apex acuminate-cuspidate, base obtuse; blade 13.5-23 cm long, 6.5-10.2 cm broad; glabrous; petiole 2.9-3.5 cm ling, 0.1-0.2 mm in diameter, sometimes twining; venation pinnately netted, brochidodromous with 8-10 pairs of lateral nerves. Inflorescence in peduncled cymes. Flowers pentamerous, calyx with basal glands, deeply divided; corolla salver-shaped with short tube, hairy at the top, petals in bud overlapping to the right; stamens about the middle of the tube; filaments straight, connate, 0.35-0.38 cm long, strongly intertwisted, hairy; anthers oblong, partially exserted, adhering to the stigma, sagittate; disk 5-lobed, free, oblong to elliptic ,acuminate to apiculate; ovary 1, glabrous, 2-celled; cells many-ovuled; style glabrous, collared below stigma or at the base of it. Fruits a linear follicle, minutely puberulent.
Distribution Ecology
Indonesia (Moluccas, Irian Jaya) and Papua New Guinea. In the Philippines, found in the secondary forest of Tayabas, Quezon. also in savannah and primary forest at 0-1500 m altitudes.
Other Economic Uses
Plant extract contains pyrrolizidine, alkaloids such parsonine, parsonsianine, parsonsianidine, and 17-mehtyparsonsianidine (Jiang & Yu 1997).
Volume Estimate
No information available.
Other Plant Notes
No information available.