Potentilla indica
Content
Description
Leaves trifoliolate, petiole up to 12(-16) cm.
Stipules membranous, c. 1 cm long, long-hairy outside.
Flowers solitary, seemingly placed opposite the runner-leaves, rarely 6-merous, pedicels 2-8 cm long.
Sepals narrowly triangular, 4-6 by 2-3 mm during anthesis, indumentum outside as epicalyx.
Petals obovate, 3.5-4.5 by 2-3.5 mm, yellow.
Stamens 15-20, filaments up to 2.5 mm, anthers c. 0.5 mm.
Distribution
Africa present, America present, Asia-Tropical: Jawa (Jawa present); Lesser Sunda Is. present; Malaya present (Singapore present); Philippines (Philippines present); Sumatera (Sumatera present), Europe present, South, Southeast, and East Asia present
South, Southeast, and East Asia. In Malesia probably indigenous in Java, Lesser Sunda Islands and Philippines, cultivated as an ornamental, escaped from cultivation or at least doubtfully indigenous in Sumatra, Malaya, and Singapore. Also introduced and established in many places in Europe, America, and Africa.
Uses
Perry & Metzger () report many medicinal uses from China, especially for burns, bites, boils, etc. The fruits are almost tasteless but edible; they are, however, reported to be poisonous when too many are eaten.
Notes
An extensive overview of the variation was given earlier (Kalkman 1968). Two groups can be distinguished, one with tuberculate achenes on a hairy torus, another with smooth achenes on a glabrous torus, the correlation of achene and torus characters not being absolute. Plants of the first-mentioned group have proven to be diploid 2n = 14, plants of the second group were observed to be dodecaploid 2n = 84. Japanese authors call them, respectively, Duchesnea chrysantha andiX indica. Published chromosome counts were almost exclusively made from Japanese or cultivated plants and none from Malesia. Sterile hybrids obviously occur in the wild in Japan and can also be artificially made; they are 7x or 8x and have been named Duchesnea x hara-kurosawae Naruhashi & Sugi-moto (; see also ).
Because of the lack of any karyological evidence it is hot warranted to extrapolate these findings to areas outside Japan, but chromosome counts of vouchered, wild growing specimens of both groups may establish the occurrence of two (sub)species in Malesia. Plants with tubercled achenes are in Malesia known from Luzon, Java, Bali, and Timor, plants with smooth achenes were seen from Luzon and other islands and seem to be always introduced or escaped.
For the distinction of Duchesnea as a genus, see the note on p. 286 under the genus description. When brought under Potentilla the group with the tubercled achenes cannot be called P. chrysantha, that combination being already occupied.
Because of the lack of any karyological evidence it is hot warranted to extrapolate these findings to areas outside Japan, but chromosome counts of vouchered, wild growing specimens of both groups may establish the occurrence of two (sub)species in Malesia. Plants with tubercled achenes are in Malesia known from Luzon, Java, Bali, and Timor, plants with smooth achenes were seen from Luzon and other islands and seem to be always introduced or escaped.
For the distinction of Duchesnea as a genus, see the note on p. 286 under the genus description. When brought under Potentilla the group with the tubercled achenes cannot be called P. chrysantha, that combination being already occupied.