Chonemorpha fragrans, the frangipani vine or climbing frangipani, is a plant species in the genus Chonemorpha. It is a vigorous, generally evergreen, climbing shrub producing stems or more long that can climb to the tops of the tallest trees in the forests of Southeast Asia. It has scented, white flowers and large shiny leaves. It is native to China, India (the Himalayas), Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand. It is very commonly used in Ayurveda (an Indian traditional medicine) and it is also cultivated mostly worldwide in frost-free places.
Description
Chonemorpha fragrans is a vigorous climber, reaching up to . It can also grow or spread to about wide, depending on the support. It has a rusty brown, or grey barked stem which is numerously lenticelled. The bark can produce fibre of good quality.
It is evergreen in most tropical climates. Elsewhere, in the spring, the fresh new leaves are bright green with a bronze hue. The mature leaves are large, deep green, shiny, and hirsute (hairy), especially underneath. They are broadly ovate, orbicular, or elliptic in shape. They have a 2cm long petiole, and they are wide and long, with 10-12 pairs of lateral, prominent veins.
It has terminal (end of stem), clusters of blooms, appearing from spring to autumn, from May to July, or between April and October. They are highly fragrant, and the scent is thought to be very similar to that of the Singapore White plumeria.
They have tubular sepals, which are 1 cm long, a white corolla which is long. It has a hairy throat, which is yellow.
After it has bloomed, between July and September, it produces a lanceolate or oblong seedcase. Inside the seed case, are flat seeds, shortly beaked with long white silky coma.
All parts of the plant produce a milk-like substance when damaged.
Biochemistry
Chonemorpha fragrans contains alkaloids including camptothecin (CPT), , and funtumafrine. Camptothecin is a monoterpene indole alkaloid and several synthetic drugs which are analogs of camptothecin are used in chemotherapy for cancer of various types. Chonemorphine is a steroidal alkaloid which has been studied in Wistar rats for its possible use for intestinal infections.
Chonemorpha fragrans has two sets of chromosomes with a count of 2n=20.
Taxonomy
The Latin name is pronounced as Chonemorpha (koh-nee-MORF-a) fragrans (FRAY-granz).
It is commonly known as 'Frangipani Vine', or 'Climbing Frangipani' and rarely in India as 'Funnel-Flower Vine'.
The flowers are very similar to the Frangipani in scent and shape, hence the common names.
Due to its wide range it has various local names such as; 'Gardhedaro' in hindi, 'Manjinaru', or 'Chandra hoovina balli' in Kannada, 'Perunkurumpa', 'Paal valli', or in Malayalam, 'Murva' or 'morala' in Sanskrit, 'velutha kaaka kodi' in Tamil and 'Chaga' in Telugu.
Also within parts of China (such as Guangxi, Yunnan and Tibet) and the Indian Subcontinent and Indochina, its name in Khmer is /vɔə crẹj cruəj/ វល្លិជ្រៃជ្រួយ or /vɔə ʔɑŋkɑt krəhɑːm/ វល្លិអង្កត់ក្រហម.),
It is written as 大叶鹿角藤 in Chinese script and known as da ye lu jiao teng in Pidgin in China.
It was first originally described and published by botanist Alexander Moon as Echites fragrans Moon, in his 'Catalogue of the indigenous and exotic Plants growing in Ceylon' (Cat. Pl. Ceylon.) Vol.20 in 1824. The species was then renamed and it was then re-published by English botanist Arthur Hugh Garfit Alston (1902-1958) in Annals of the Royal Botanic Gardens (Ann. Roy. Bot. Gard.) Vol.11 on page 203 in 1929.
It was verified by United States Department of Agriculture and the Agricultural Research Service on 20 January 2012.
It is an RHS Accepted name and was last-listed in the RHS Plant Finder in 2005.
Distribution and habitat
It is native to temperate Asia and Tropical and subtropical Asia.
Range
It is native to a large area of Asia, from the Himalayas to Java.
In temperate Asia, it is found within China (within the provinces of Yunnan Sheng and Guangxi).
Within tropical Asia, it is found in the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, (including Nicobar Islands,) Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Brunei, East Timor, Indonesia, (including the islands of Sulawesi, Lesser Sunda Islands and Sumatra) Malaysia and the Philippines.
It is cultivated also in Fujian and Guangdong in China.
Habitat
It prefers to grow in moist deciduous to semi-evergreen forests. or evergreen forests, where it often clings to the trees. In dense mountain forests it can reach altitudes of above sea level.