Rubia cordifolia

What to Eat

Edible parts: Leaves, Fruit, Leaves - salt, Twigs - tea, Root - flavouring

The leaves are edible when cooked and are used as a side dish with rice; they are highly regarded as a lab-lab by the Javanese. The fruit, about 8mm in diameter, can be eaten raw.

Where to Find It

It is a tropical plant. It can grow in a wide range of conditions. It grows from sea level to 2,600 m altitude. In Tanzania it grows between 1,100-2,600 m above sea level. In Indonesia it grows from 500 m above sea level to high in the mountains. In Sichuan and Yunnan.

Afghanistan, Africa, Angola, Asia, Australia, Bhutan, Burundi, Central Africa, China, Congo, East Africa, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Europe, Greece, Himalayas, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Malawi, Mediterranean, Mongolia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, North Africa, Northeastern India, Pakistan, Russia, Rwanda, SE Asia, Siberia, Sikkim, Somalia, South Africa, Southern Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tibet, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe,

How to Identify

A climber. It is a straggling plant. It grows 1-8 m long. It keeps gorwing from year to year. The stems are angled and have small hooks. The leaves occur as 4 in a ring. The leaves are often heart shaped at the base and are broadest just above the base. They narrow to a long tip. The leaves are 3 cm long by 1 cm wide. The flowers are small and greenish-yellow and on branched stalks at the ends of shoots or in the axils of leaves. The fruit are fleshy and black and divided into halves. The seeds are kidney shaped.

How to Grow

It can be grown by seed or cuttings. Fresh seed grows most quickly. Plants should be grown in light shade.

Propagation: Seed is best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame, as stored seed can be very slow to germinate. Prick out seedlings when large enough to handle and grow on in light shade in the greenhouse for the first year, then plant out into permanent positions in early summer. Divide in spring or at any point during the growing season, keeping divisions well watered until established. Larger divisions can go straight into permanent positions; smaller ones are best potted up and grown on in a lightly shaded cold frame, then planted out once well established in summer.

Medicinal Uses

The roots are alterative, anodyne, antiphlogistic, antitussive, astringent, diuretic, emmenagogue, expectorant, styptic, tonic, and vulnerary. They have an antibacterial action, inhibiting the growth of Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermidis, and Pneumococci, among others, and are used to lower blood pressure. Internally, the roots are used to treat abnormal uterine bleeding, internal and external haemorrhage, bronchitis, rheumatism, and stones in the kidney, bladder, and gall, as well as dysentery. Roots are harvested in autumn from plants at least 3 years old, then peeled and dried. In Tibetan medicine, the stems are considered to have a bitter taste and cooling potency; they are used as a febrifuge and in treating blood disorders and spreading fever of the kidneys and intestines.

Other Uses

A red dye is obtained from the stems and roots, though it is inferior to that of R. tinctoria, the madder plant.

Rubia cordifolia, known as Indian madder, is a species of flowering plant in the coffee family, Rubiaceae. It has been cultivated for a red pigment derived from roots.

Production

Leaves are collected during the rainy season. The ash from burnt plants can be stored for several months.

Other Information

It is cultivated.

Notes

It has anticancer properties. It is used in medicine.

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