Torenia concolor Lindl.

 Torenia concolor Lindl., Edwards's Bot. Reg. 32: t. 62 (1846).

Torenia concolor Lindl.; Photos Hoang Thanh Son

Vietnamese name: 

Tô liên cùng màu

Chinese name: 

单色蝴蝶草 dan se hu die cao

Common name:

(Japanese common name) turu-urikusa [vine urikusa (urikusa = Lindernia crustacea)]

(English common name) Kyushu (Amami Islands), Okinawa

Latin name: 

Torenia concolor Lindl.

Family: 

Scrophulariaceae

Synonym name:

Torenia concolor var. formosana T. Yamaz.

Torenia radicans Vaniot

Torenia rubens Benth. ex Maxim.

Description: 

Herbs, creeping. Stems quadrangular, rooting from nodes; branches ascending or erect. Petiole 2-10 mm; leaf blade triangular-ovate, narrowly ovate, or rarely ovate-orbicular, 1-4 X 0.8-2.5 cm, glabrous or sparsely villous, base broadly cuneate to subtruncate, margin serrate or crenate and serrate, apex obtuse to acute. Flowers axillary or terminal, solitary or in fascicles. Pedicel 2-3.5 cm, to 5 cm in fruit. Calyx 1.2-1.7 cm, to 2.3 cm in fruit, base decurrent; wings 5, slightly more than 1 mm wide; lips narrowly triangular with 5 small lobes evident in fruit. Corolla blue to blue-purple, 2.5-3.9 cm, exceeding calyx lobes by 1.1-2.1 cm. Anterior stamens appendages filiform, 2-4 mm. Capsule 1.5-1.8 cm. 

Flower and fruid season: 

May-November. 

Distribution: 

This species is distributed in China, Japan (Ryukyu Islands), Laos, Vietnam. In VietNam, found in Vĩnh Phú, Nghệ An.

Ecological: 

The tree grows naturally in moist areas along the forest, roadside, and wasteland, at an altitude of 300-1,800 m.

Chemical: 

lupeol (1)， ß-sitosterol and stigmasterol (2) ' betulin (3) ' betulinic acid (4)  oleanolic acid (5) 'maslinic acid (6) alphitolic acid (7) ' 3-epimaslinic acid (8); augutic acid (9) ' ß-sitosterol-3-0-~-D-glucoside (10)

Pharmacological effects: 

Analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities

Uses: 

Acute hepatitis, nephritis, edema, amoebic dysentery, hemorrhoids (whole tree).

Reference: 

- theplantlist.org

- efloras.org

- ipni.org

- Chih-Wen Ding, Li-Kang Ho,Yuan-Shiun Chang; J. Agri. & Fore. : 54(1) 69~ 76(2005)

- Lin YC, Cheng HY, Huang TH, Huang HW, Lee YH, Peng WH. Analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of Torenia concolor Lindley var. formosana Yamazaki and betulin in mice. Am J Chin Med. 2009;37(1):97-111.