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Aristolochiaceae FAMILY

Aristolochia acuminata

Aristolochia acuminata

Edibility
0/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

This species containes aristolochic acid, which is known to have toxic side effects in larger doses. Acute toxic manifestations are tachycardia, increased respiratory rate, ataxia, sedation and marked vasodilation. Short-term chronic toxic effects include hepatotoxicity, marked renal damage and mild hematologic dyscracias[ 360 Title Philippine Medicinal Plants Publication Author Website http://www.stuartxchange.org/CompleteList.html Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description A lovely site, giving brief details on the medicinal uses of several hundred (over 400 at the last count) plants in the Philippines, plus a picture of each plant. ].

Botanical Description

Aristolochia acuminata is a slender, evergreen climbing plant with stems that become woody, at least at their base. The stems can be up to 20 metres long, scrambling over the ground or supporting themselves by twining around other plants[ 283 Title Medicinal Plants in Vietnam Publication Author Nguyen Van Dan & Doan Thi Nhu Publisher World Health Organisation Year 1989 ISBN 92 9061 101 4 Description An excellent book, giving information on over 200 plants, their medicinal compounds and applications. , 451 Title Flora Malesiana Series 1 Publication Author Various Website http://www.archive.org Publisher Nationaal Herbarium Nederiand, Universiteit Leiden branch Year 0 ISBN Description A massive treatment of the plants of the Malaysian Archipelago. Much of it has been made available to download from the Internet ]. The plant is sometimes gathered from the wild for local medicinal use.

Habitat & Origin

Origintropical
Native RangeE. Asia - Indian subcontinent, China, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, northern Australia.
HabitatForest and thickets, usually up to elevations of 800 metres, but to 1,350 metres in New Guinea[ 310 Title Plant Resources of Southeast Asia Publication Author Website http://proseanet.org/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description Lots of information on the uses of the plants of SE Asia. ].