Garden croton

Overview

Garden croton is native to Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Queensland in Australia, Fiji and Vanuatu. This plant very popular cultivated ornamental in the Philippines and are now widespread all over the tropics, it is sometimes harvested from the wild for local medicinal use.

Vernacular Names

Bian ye mu (Chinese), Indischer lorbeer (German), Henyo-boku (Japanese), Kohson (Thailand), Ku kieng (Vietnamese), Sacasaca (Fiji), Pokok puding (Malaysia), Sagilala (Tagalog-Philippines)

Agroecology

Codiaeum variegatum is an understory plant in lowland and upland forests at elevations up to 800 m, and prefers drier rainforests. It needs a warm, humid and bright environment with some shade.

Morphology

• Stems - white-brown, developing stems are green.
• Leaves - thick and leathery, ovate, oblong to linear, the margins entire, lobed or spirally twisted. Young leaves are usually green, yellow or red, later changing to single colour or variegation of gold cream, white, red, maroon, purple, black or brown.
• Flowers - male and female flowers are borne on different stalks and mature at different times. The female inflorescence is developed earlier and fruits are formed before the males are produced.
• Fruit - a capsule 9 mm in diameter, containing three seeds.
• Seeds - 6 mm in diameter.

Cultivation

• Propagated vegetatively by stem cuttings.
• Propagated generatively by seeds for hybrid cultivations.

Chemical Constituents

Alkaloids, glycosides, steroids, flavonoids, coumarins, saponins, fatty acids, tannins, amino acids, gum and mucilage, terpenoids, anthroquinones and phenols.

Traditional Medicinal Uses

Its reported pharmacological activities include antioxidant, antifertility, molluscicidal, immunomodulating, cytotoxic, wound healing, antimicrobial, antiamoebic, antilithiatic, and anticonvulsant properties.

• Leaves are considered purgative, sedative, antifungal, antiamoebic, antioxidant, and anticancerous.
• It is considered emmenagogue and abortifacient.
• Decoction of crushed leaves is used for diarrhea.
• Young leaves, with Pandanus macroieacceretia, coconut milk, and root sap of Areca catechu are used for gonorrhea.
• In Nigeria, root decoction is used for gastric ulcers.
• In the Kagera and Coast regions, it is used for the treatment of epilepsy.
• In the Fijian Islands, bark decoction is used to treat eczema, psoriasis, and allergies. Leaves are also used to treat fish poisoning and gonorrhea.
• In New Guinea, the root is chewed with betel nut to treat stomachache or applied to the affected area to relieve toothache. A green bath prepared from boiled leaves is used for fever. Sap squeezed from leaves or incised from bark applied to sores and fungal infections. Drink prepared from leaf sap given for snake bites and applied to the affected bite area. Decoction of the entire plant is used to induce abortion. A mixture of crushed roots, volcanic sulphur and betel nut is chewed to induce sterility in women. Infusion of scraped barks of croton and Albizzia falcataria drunk for patients suffering from rectal prolapse.