Clinacanthus nutans
species of plant
Clinacanthus nutans is a species of plant in the family Acanthaceae. It is also known by the common names belalai gajah (Malay), phaya yo (Thai), Sabah snake grass, ki tajam (Sunda), and dandang gendis (Jawa). This plant is used in the traditional herbal medicines of Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and China. It has been used in Indonesia in the treatment of dysentery and diabetes.
Description
Clinacanthus nutans is a herbaceous plant that grows in low shrubs up to 2.5 meters (8 ft 2 in) high. Its stems are green, woody, upright and cylindrical. Its leaves are green, simple, lanceolate with pointed tips and rounded bases, and are 8–12 cm (3.1–4.7 in) long and 4–6 cm (1.6–2.4 in) wide. Its flowers are red and panicle-shaped, with tube-shaped elongated petals 3.5 cm (1.4 in) long.
Medicinal uses
It is used in treating skin rashes, insects and snake bites, lesions caused by herpes simplex virus, diabetes, and gout in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and China.
The public source identifies “Clinacanthus nutans” as species of plant. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Clinacanthus, nutans and species.
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The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4960627. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Clinacanthus nutans” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.