Common Name:

General Information

Premna serratifolia is a much-branched and sometimes spiny shrub or small tree with a low crown and branches that are often procumbent and root into the ground; it can grow up to 10 metres tall. The bole can be quite short, it is up to 30cm in diameter[, ].
The plant often forms an important part of the local economy. It is commonly used as a food and a medicine, being gathered from the wild in large quantities for these purposes and often being sold in markets[, , ]. It also provides various materials, including wood, fibre and dyes,for local use, and can be grown as a hedge. for local use. It is cultivated as an ornamental and shade-providing tree, and is also sometimes grown in hedges[].
Premna serratifolia has a very wide range and does not appear to face major threats. The plant is classified as 'Least Concern' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2021)[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Eastern Africa, across the Indian Ocean and through tropical Asia to Australia and the Pacific Islands.

Habitat

Forest regrowth, brushwood and hedges, often near the sea[, ]. Mixed and open forests on mountain slopes and along streams at elevations of 100 - 300 metres in southern China[].

Properties

Conservation Status	Least Concern
Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Shrub
Height	6.00 m
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Ornamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

Found in the wild on moist, sandy soils and limestone[, ].
The whole plant has an agreeable aromatic smell[].
Plants can flower and produce fruit all year round[].
An extremely variable plant, especially in the leaves and calyces[].

Edible Uses

Leaves - the tender, young leaves are cooked and eaten as a vegetable[, ]. A somewhat acid flavour[].

The seeds are sometimes eaten by children[].

The ripe fruits have sometimes been eaten with yams in the Pacific[].

Medicinal

The leaves and roots are used in traditional medicine as a diuretic, galactagogue, stomachic and febrifuge[]. They are used in treating conditions such as fever, colic, diarrhoea, dysentery, urine retention, flatulence, dyspepsia and rheumatism[].

The root has a warm bitter taste and agreeable smell, it is prescribed in decoction as a gentle cordial and stomachic in fevers[].

The leaves are used as a galactagogue, and also to treat rheumatic arthritis; colic and flatulence; coughs, headaches and fevers[, ]. The leaves, combined with those of morinda citrifolia, are squeezed into water and the solution drunk twice a day to treat severe malarial fevers[].
A steam bath made from the leaves and young stems is breathed in as a treatment for fevers. The cooled solution is then used to bathe the body[].
The leaves are boiled into medicinal tea that is reputed to have analgesic effects. This home remedy is used mostly in the treatment of backaches[].

A tea made from the boiled bark is used to treat neuralgia[, ].

The stem-bark contains the aIkaIoids premnine and graniarine[].
The roots yield an essential oil[].

The leaves and roots can be gathered all the year round. They are well washed and then dried in the sun or in ovens[]..

Agroforestry Uses:

The plant is very easy to propagate by layering and cuttings so is used locally as a simple way to make hedges[, ].

Other Uses

The bark is used as a binding material[].

The leaves and roots are used to perfume coconut oil[].

A dye is obtained from the root[]. The root-bark of this plant affords a yellowish-brown powder giving an orange-brown tincture with alcohol[].

The wood is a light, creamy brown. It is pleasantly scented, beautifully veined, close-grained, very hard and durable, though it can also be knotty and often crooked[, , ]. It is much used in traditional construction and also for tool and knife handles, implements and paddles[, , , ]. The hard wood of the roots is used for making paddles and tool handles.
The wood is used for fuel and also for making fire by friction[].

Propagation

Seed -
Low branches often self-layer[].

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