Tabernaemontana divaricata (L.) R.Br. ex Roem. & Schult. (= Ervatamia coronaria (Willd.) Stapf)

DeFilipps, Robert A. & Krupnick, Gary A., 2018, The medicinal plants of Myanmar, PhytoKeys 102, pp. 1-341 : 15-16

Tabernaemontana divaricata (L.) R.Br. ex Roem. & Schult. (= Ervatamia coronaria (Willd.) Stapf)

Names.

Myanmar: lashi, taw-zalat, zalat, zalat-seikya. English: Adam’s apple, crape gardenia, crape jasmine, East Indian rosebay, linwheel flower, moonbeam.

Range.

Thought to be a native of India, but now cultivated throughout Continental and Southeast Asia. Cultivated in Myanmar.

Uses.

Root: Emmenagogue and tonic.

Notes.

In India the stem bark serves as a refrigerant; the leaf’s milky juice is used in the treatment of eye diseases; and the root is applied locally an anodyne, as well as chewed to relieve toothache ( Jain and DeFilipps 1991). Perry (1980), noting that the species’ uses in each geographical division are diverse, discusses its uses in Indo-China, the Malay Peninsula, and Amboina.

Reported chemical constituents (alkaloids from the bark of the stem and root) are tabernaemontanine, coronarine, coronaridine, and dregamine; alkaloids also occur in all of the vegetative parts ( Perry 1980).

Reference.

Nordal (1963).