Flame of The Woods

Overview

Flame of the woods is found worldwide in tropical and subtropical climates, native to India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh to Indo-China, and has naturalized in Puerto Rico, presumably dispersed by birds. It has been occasionally persisting around former habitations and waste areas in Florida. There is no evidence to suggest or imply that I.coccinea is an invasive species.

Vernacular Names

Red Ixora (English), Soka (Indonesia), Amor ardiente (Spanish), Dun trung quoc (Vietnamese), Kam ron tea (Cambodia). Santan (Tagalog-Philippines), Pechah priok, Kembang santen merah (Malay).

Agroecology

Ixora prefers a partially shaded position. Grows best in a fertile, moist but well-drained soil. The plant usually flowers continually throughout the year. Plants are tolerant of severe pruning bushland, riverine forest and forest edges throughout tropical and subtropical regions.

Morphology

• Roots - branched tap root system
• Stems - have many stems, up to 2,5 m tall, glabrous.
• Leaves - ovate to oblong or obovate, measuring 3.5-10 cm x 2-5 cm, with leathery texture, with subcordate or rounded base, obtuse or slightly acuminate at apex, mucronate, with 8-15 secondary veins, with absent or short petiole and long-awned stipules.
• Flowers - with triangular sepal lobes, measure about 3 mm long, acute and red, while the petal tube is 3-4.5 cm long, with lance­-shaped or ovate-lance-shaped lobes, measures 1-1.5 cm long, acute, or­ange to scarlet or white, yellow or pink (mostly in cultivated plants), not fragrant and with exserted red style 3-4 mm long.
• Fruit - spherical or so, about the size of a pea, reddish and fleshy.

Cultivation

• Propagated by seeds.
• Cuttings of short-jointed, semi-ripe, non-flowering wood. Pot each cutting up singly and keep in a humid, shaded position at around 25 °C until rooted.

Chemical Constituents

• Triterpenes (ursolic, oleanolic acids, ixoroid, lupeol), cycloartenol esters, peptides, ixorapeptide I dan II, acrid oils, tannins, saponins, flavonoids (rutin, formononetin, quercetin, kaempferol), sterols.

Traditional Medicinal Uses

Medicinal Uses

• Studies have shown chemoprotective, antioxidant, antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory, wound healing, analgesic, anti-mutagenic, antitumor activities.
• Flowers are considered cytotoxic, hepatoprotective, antimicrobial.
• It is considered internally sedative, stomachic, tonic, cholagogue; externally, astringent and antiseptic.

Traditional Uses

• In the Philippines, root decoction is used as sedative in the treatment of nausea, hiccups, and loss of appetite.
• A decoction of the flowers or the bark is employed as a lotion against eye troubles, sores and ulcers..
• In India, flowers are ingredients to Ayurvedic cancer formulations.
• The leaves and roots are used as antiseptics for skin conditions like scabies, abscess and ulcers.
• Flower decoction is used for hypertension, amenorrhea and irregular menstruation, hemoptysis, catarrhal bronchitis.