Journal of Threatened
Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 April 2024 | 16(4): 25089–25093
ISSN 0974-7907
(Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8772.16.4.25089-25093
#8772 | Received 08 October 2023 | Final received 22 January 2024 |
Finally accepted 26 March 2024
New distribution record of Alstonia sebusii
(Van Heurck & Müll.
Arg.) Monach. from Manipur, India
Kazhuhrii Eshuo
Department of Botany, D.M.
College of Science, Dhanamanjuri University, Imphal, Manipur 795001, India.
Abstract: The genus Alstonia
belonging to the Apocyanaceae family is represented
by 44 species distributed worldwide. In India, the taxon is represented by
eight species, reported from Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Western Ghats,
Eastern Ghats, western Himalaya, and northeastern regions. The present study
reported the occurrence of Alstonia sebusii from Pudunamei
village, Mao, a new addition to the flora of Manipur. Detailed morphological
descriptions and measurements were recorded based on living plant specimens.
The plant is locally called ‘Topfiira Koso Pro’ having ethno-medicinal properties and widely been
used by local people of the state to treat various ailments. The plant is rare
and found to occur at specific location at Pudunamei
village.
Keywords: New addition, rare, Topfiira Koso Pro, traditional
medicine.
Editor: Ashish Paul, North Eastern Regional
Institute of Science &Technology, Nirjuli India. Date of publication: 26
April 2024 (online & print)
Citation: Eshuo, K. (2024). New distribution record of Alstonia sebusii
(Van Heurck & Müll.
Arg.) Monach. from Manipur, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 16(4): 25089–25093. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8772.16.4.25089-25093
Copyright: © Eshuo 2024. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and
distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the
author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: None.
Competing interests: The author declares no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: The author sincerely acknowledged Dr. K.N. Gandhi and Dr. Santanu Dey for their help in
providing literature and comments on species status. The knowledge of
ethnomedicinal information given by Mr. Kholi Athikho Chara is greatly
acknowledged. The facility provided by the Department of Botany, Dhanamanjuri College of Science, Dhanamanjuri
University, Manipur is greatly acknowledged.
The genus Alstonia
R.Br. is an important timber producing taxon (Soerianegara
& Lemmaens 1993; Sidiyasa
1998) described by Robert Brown (1810) and named in honor of Charles Alston, a
Scottish physician and professor of botany at the University of Edinburgh. Alstonia is the largest genus in the subtribe Alstoniinae of tribe Plumerieae
of the family Apocyanaceae represented by 44 species
distributed worldwide (POWO 2023), out of which eight species are reported from
India (Datta & Nayar
2021; BSI 2023). The genus is distributed in central America, tropical Africa,
and from the Himalaya and China to New South Wales in Australia,
and has its centre of diversity in the
Malaysian region (Sidiyasa 1998). Some of the species
of Alstonia provide important timber for
commerce, and many species were used in local traditional medicines (Sidiyasa 1998).
During the field exploration in Pudunamei-Mao, Senapati District, Manipur, the author came
across an interesting plant species of Alstonia.
On further investigation and critical analysis of the plant specimen with
available literature (Hooker 1880–1882; Kanjilal et
al. 1939; Monachino 1949; Sidiyasa
1998; Singh et al. 2000; Eshuo & Chaturvedi 2011;
Mao & Gogoi 2016; Datta
& Nayar 2021; Eshuo
2023; Eshuo & Lokho
2023) and herbaria photograph images from https://powo.science.kew.org, the species
is identified as Alstonia sebusii (Van Heurck & Müll. Arg.) Monach., hitherto
unknown from Manipur. The occurrence of A. sebusii
is an addition to the flora of Manipur as well as an extended distribution
range from Sikkim through Assam to Manipur in the Indo-Burma region. This plant
has ethno-medicinal properties and has been used in treating various ailments
like urinary tract infection, agalactorrhea, hypertension, stomach upset by
local people of Mao Naga tribe of Manipur State.
Materials and Methods
The collection, pressing and
preparation of herbarium specimens were done as per the conventional herbarium
techniques (Jain & Rao 1976) and the herbarium specimen was deposited at
Herbarium, Botany Department of Dhanamanjuri College
of Science (Accession No.: 1.2020), Imphal and at
Herbarium, Botanical Survey of India, Eastern Regional Centre (Accession No.:
101280), Shillong for future reference. The live
plant photos were taken with the help of Sony SLT-A58 and Canon SX120 digital
camera. All the morphological descriptions, measurements were based on
observation of the live plant specimens in the field.
Taxonomic Treatment
Alstonia sebusii (Van Heurck
& Müll. Arg.) Monach.,
Pacific Sci. 3: 157. 1949; Datta, A. & Nayar, M.P., Fasc. Fl. India (P.V. Prasanna ed.) 30: 31.
2021. Blaberopus sebusii
Van Heurck & Müll. Arg.
in Van Heurck, Observ. Bot.
2: 188. 1871. (Image 1 & 2).
Trees 2–4 m tall, bark glabrous,
young stem lenticellate, grey to yellowish-brown,
branches terete. Leaves in 2–4 whorls, leaves elliptic or ovate-elliptic 12–18
x 3–5 cm, glabrous or puberulous, coriaceous, lateral
veins 65–80 pairs, stipules dry and scaly, petioles 1–2.5 cm long.
Inflorescence cymose, terminal, peduncles 1–2.5 cm
long; flower creamy white, 6–7 mm in diameter. Calyx imbricates, connate at
base, glabrous, persistent; corolla pink or pinkish-red, tube 8–10 mm long,
widened above the middle, indumentum at the mouth of the tube, corolla tube,
corolla lobes, lobes triangular, 3–4 x 3–4 mm, epipetalous, basifixed. Ovary
ovoid, glabrous, carpels two, style 4 mm long, stigma pagoda like. Follicles in
pair, up to 9 cm long, split longitudinal. Seed dry, flattened, both ends
rounded, hairy, 8 x 3 mm in size.
Flowering: Almost round the year.
Fruiting: June–January.
Specimen examined: India:
Manipur: Pudunamei: KE 100015: 1,650–1,800 m: 25.3140N
& 94.0920E (Image 3).
Ecology: Plants grow along with
other herbs, shrubs or trees in the wild and home garden ornamental plants for
medicinal usage.
Distribution: India (Assam,
Sikkim, Manipur [present report]), Bhutan, China, Myanmar.
Medicinal Uses
The people of Mao especially Pudunamei villagers have been using Alstonia
sebusii (Locally called ‘Topfiira
koso pro’) for treating urinary problems,
hypertension, stomach upset, agalactorrhea—a condition where a mother fails to
produce breast milk after giving birth. A woman who suffers agalactorrhea or
insufficient milk syndrome was given this plant decoction believing that latex
produced by this plant can help in milk production for the mother. The plant is rare and found to occur at
specific locations believing by locals that it is a ‘gift from gods’ to heal
and cure various ailments. In recent days, a few people have started planting
this plant in their home garden for their ethno-medicinal usage and also as an
ornamental plant because of its foliage beauty and flowers that bloom almost
throughout the year. Out of the various ailments mentioned, village people
mostly used this plant to treat urinary tract infection problems. There is no
previous record on the traditional uses of A. sebusii
by any other researchers till date (Mao 1993, 1999; Lokho
& Narasimhan 2013). This is the first report on the use of A. sebusii plant in the ethnomedicine by the Mao Naga
tribe of Manipur.
Preparation and part used: About
4–6 fresh leaves are taken, washed, cut into two to three pieces and boiled in
100 ml of water. The decoction is taken orally to relieve irritation and
difficulty in urination problems, hypertension, stomach upset and agalactorrhea
or insufficient milk syndrome lactating mother whose breast milk fails to produce or the volume of breast milk production is less after
child birth.
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