Torenia crustacea, commonly known as the Malaysian false pimpernel or brittle false pimpernel, is a species of annual or short-lived perennialflowering plant in the family Linderniaceae.[1][2] Native to Asia, it has become widely distributed throughout tropical and subtropical regions worldwide and is considered a minor weed in rice paddies and other agricultural areas.[3]
Torenia crustacea is a small, prostrate to erect herb growing 5–20 centimetres (2.0–7.9in) tall, with much-branched stems that spread widely.[4] The stems are quadrangular (four-angled) with deep grooves and are mostly glabrous (hairless), often purplish in colour, and readily root at the nodes when in contact with moist soil.[4][5]
The leaves are opposite, simple, and ovate to broadly triangular, measuring 1–2 centimetres (0.39–0.79in) long and 0.5–1.1 centimetres (0.20–0.43in) wide. They have short petioles up to 8 millimetres (0.31in) long, with shallowly crenate or serrate margins and obtuse to subacute tips.[4] The leaf surfaces are mostly hairless except for sparse hairs along the veins on the underside.[5]
The flowers are small, approximately 1 centimetre (0.39in) in size, borne singly in the axils of leaves or in short terminal racemes on slender pedicels5–22 millimetres (0.20–0.87in) long.[4] The calyx is urn-shaped, 3–5 millimetres (0.12–0.20in) long, with five shallow triangular-ovate lobes. The corolla is 5–8 millimetres (0.20–0.31in) long, two-lipped, and purple with a yellow or white spot in the throat; the lower lip is three-lobed with the middle lobe larger than the others, while the upper lip is ovate and sometimes shallowly two-lobed.[4][5] The plant has four stamens and lacks staminodes.[3]
The fruit is a globose to broadly ellipsoid capsule, 3–5 millimetres (0.12–0.20in) long, containing numerous minute, cylindric seeds.[4][3]Pollen grains are round, with a diameter of approximately 23.5 micrometres. The plant flowers year-round in suitable climates.[3]
A 2013 phylogenetic study of the family Linderniaceae proposed reclassifying this species from Lindernia to Torenia, which has been accepted by some taxonomic authorities.[6] The family Linderniaceae was itself segregated from the Scrophulariaceae and recognised by the APG III system in 2009.[6]
The plant typically grows in wet or moist habitats from sea level up to 1,500 metres (4,900ft) elevation, occasionally reaching 3,000 metres (9,800ft).[6] It favours wet ditches, depressions, rice paddies, river beds, roadsides, moist disturbed areas, wet pastures, and edges of cultivated land.[3][8] It can form dense monospecific carpets covering several square metres on bare, wet soil if left undisturbed.[8]
Ecology
Torenia crustacea is considered a minor weed of rice cultivation in tropical regions.[8] It is an annual or short-lived perennial that can reproduce both by seed and vegetatively through stems that root at the nodes.[8] The flowers are visited by several butterfly species, including Pseudozizeeria maha and Zizeeria labradus.[9]
In the southeastern United States, it is classified as a non-native species requiring caution and management to prevent escape from cultivation, though its invasive potential is still under assessment.[7]
Traditional uses include treatment of fever, dysentery, ringworm, skin disorders (including boils, itching, and herpes-like sores), earache, and injuries.[10] In Peninsular Malaysia, a decoction of the leaves is administered to women after childbirth, while in the Moluccas, leaf preparations are applied topically to boils, itching, and wounds caused by forest ticks.[6] In Indochina, the plant is considered to have emetic and cathartic properties and has been used to treat bilious disorders, amenorrhoea, and hepatitis.[8] In Brunei, powdered plant material mixed with rice water is drunk to relieve diarrhoea, vomiting, and cholera.[8] In Taiwan, it is used as a folk remedy for herpes virus infections.[11]
The species is assessed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List due to its very wide distribution, occurrence in a range of wetland and anthropogenic habitats, and ability to exploit agricultural environments such as rice paddies.[6]
1234Lin, Chia-Wei; etal. (2020). "Bioactive constituents of Lindernia crustacea and its anti-EBV effect via Rta expression inhibition in the viral lytic cycle". Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 250: 112465. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2019.112465. PMID31863859.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: article number as page number (link)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Malaysian false pimpernel flower
Pollen
