''Combretum indicum'', also known as the Rangoon creeper, is a

vine A vine ( Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners thems ...

with red flower clusters which is native to tropical Asia.

Description

The Rangoon creeper is a

ligneous A woody plant is a plant that produces wood as its structural tissue and thus has a hard stem. In cold climates, woody plants further survive winter or dry season above ground, as opposite to herbaceous plants that die back to the ground until s ...

vine that can reach from 2.5 meters to up to 8 meters. The leaves are elliptical with an acuminate tip and a rounded base. They grow from 7 to 15 centimeters and their arrangement is opposite. The flowers are fragrant and tubular and their color varies from white to pink to red. The 30 to 35 mm long fruit is ellipsoidal and has five prominent wings. The fruit tastes like

almonds The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree native to Iran and surrounding countries, including the Levant. The almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree. Within the genus ...

when mature. Rangoon creeper is found in thickets or

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...

s of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

, Pakistan and

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. It has since been cultivated and naturalized in tropical areas such as Bangladesh, Burma, Vietnam, and Thailand. The flowers change in colour with age and it is thought that this is a strategy to gather more pollinators. The flower is initially white and opens at dusk. This attracts hawkmoths with long tongues for pollination. On the second day it turns pink and on the third it turns red attracting day flying bees and birds. The flower also changes from a horizontal orientation to a drooping pose.

Potential toxicity

The seeds of this and related species, ''Quisqualis fructus'' and ''Q. chinensis'', contain the chemical

quisqualic acid Quisqualic acid is an agonist of the AMPA, kainate, and group I metabotropic glutamate receptors. It is one of the most potent AMPA receptor agonists known. It causes excitotoxicity and is used in neuroscience to selectively destroy neurons ...

, which is an

agonist An agonist is a chemical that activates a receptor to produce a biological response. Receptors are cellular proteins whose activation causes the cell to modify what it is currently doing. In contrast, an antagonist blocks the action of the ago ...

for the

AMPA receptor The α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptor (also known as AMPA receptor, AMPAR, or quisqualate receptor) is an ionotropic transmembrane receptor for glutamate (iGluR) that mediates fast synaptic transmission in the ce ...

, a kind of

glutamate Glutamic acid (symbol Glu or E; the ionic form is known as glutamate) is an α-amino acid that is used by almost all living beings in the biosynthesis of proteins. It is a non-essential nutrient for humans, meaning that the human body can syn ...

receptor in the brain. The chemical is linked to

excitotoxicity In excitotoxicity, nerve cells suffer damage or death when the levels of otherwise necessary and safe neurotransmitters such as glutamate become pathologically high, resulting in excessive stimulation of receptors. For example, when glutamate ...

(cell death). The seeds have been used for treating

roundworm The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant-parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhabiting a broa ...

and

pinworm Pinworm infection (threadworm infection in the UK), also known as enterobiasis, is a human parasitic disease caused by the pinworm. The most common symptom is itching in the anal area. The period of time from swallowing eggs to the appearan ...

. It is toxic to the parasite and kills it in the digestive tract.

History

Dr John Ivor Murray sent a sample of the "nuts" to the Museum of Economic Botany in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

in 1861, with a note that they were "used by the Chinese for worms" and a description of the means of preparation and dosage.

Gallery

File:使君子Combretum indicum 20210523080843 01.jpg, Flowers: small, cream corollae surrounded by large pink sepals File:使君子Combretum indicum 20210523080843 36.jpg, 'Spines' derived from remnants of petioles File:使君子Combretum indicum 20210523080843 32.jpg, Climbing plant in flower File:使君子Combretum indicum 20210523080843 06.jpg, Bud shape File:使君子Combretum indicum 20210523080843 39.jpg, Foliage: the young leaves (not shown) are brown-tinted File:使君子Combretum indicum 20210523080843 46.jpg, The vines twine round '' Casuarina equisetifolia'' for further growth support File:Buds and flowers of Combretum indicum (Rangoon creepe).jpg, Buds and flowers of ''Combretum indicum'' in

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the four ...

, India File:Flowers of Combretum indicum in West Bengal, India.jpg, Flowers in morning

References

External links

Quisqualis indica L.

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1062389 indicum Flora of tropical Asia