The medicinal plants of Myanmar
DeFilipps, Robert A.
Krupnick, Gary A.
PhytoKeys
2018
2018-06-28
102
1
341
EF2C242A-4B4C-D640-A641-F9B0CAB21467
Powell
Powell
Magnoliopsida
Myrtaceae
Melaleuca
CoL
Plantae
Melaleuca cajuputi
Myrtales
125
126
Tracheophyta
species
cajuputi
Name. English: cajeput.
Range. Cultivated in China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Reported from Myanmar.
Uses. Oil: Combined with camphor and considered beneficial for gout; internally, considered to be a diffusible stimulant quickening the heart action.
Notes. In China the species is used as a disinfectant; in Indo-China it is used in an embrocation for rheumatism and joint pain, as a local analgesic, and the oil may be inhaled for rhinitis and colds, also used in surgery; in Cambodia "the leaves of a special variety are used in an infusion to treat dropsy"; on the Malay Peninsula a minute portion of the oil is dropped on sugar to treat colic and cholera, and is also a fragrant stomachic and an anodyne ( Perry 1980). In Indonesia it is used externally to treat colic, headache, toothache, earache, leg cramps, various types of pains, skin disease, fresh wounds, and burns; internally, a small dose serves as a diaphoretic, an antispasmodic, and a stimulant; softened bark is used to ripen abscesses and draw out pus; the fruit is used with leaves of Baechkea frutescesto treat stomach problems ( Perry 1980). In the Philippines the leaves are used to treat asthma; in New Guinea the oil is rubbed on the body for malaria ( Perry 1980). Reported constituents include cajuputol ("identical with eucalyptol or cineole"), terpenol, 1-pinene, and aldehydes ( Perry 1980).
Reference. Perry (1980).