Scaevola taccada , Sea lettuce tree or Beach cabbage. Local names include Ambung-ambung, Merambung and Pelampung.
Scaevola taccada commonly known as Sea lettuce tree or Beach cabbage. Local names include Ambung-ambung, Merambung and Pelampung.
It is a perennial woody shrub growing from 1 - 5 m high.
It is native to coastal forests, and rocky shoreline of Madagascar, Southeast Asia (including Singapore), to tropical Australia, Micronesia, Melanesia, and Hawaii.
Leaves are large, ovate, fleshy and alternately arranged.
Its pale yellow or white flowers are 2–2.5 cm long, and arranged in 8 cm-wide clusters.
Fruits are round, fleshy and ripen from green to white and have 1-2 seeds inside them.
Flowers are pollinated by bees, and fruits are eaten by birds.
It can be propagated by seed or stem cutting.
It has wide range of medicinal uses, including treatment for asthma, beri-beri, cancer, dysentery, ear ache, eye infections, indigestion, malaria, skin abcesses, ailments or sores, syphilis, or tuberculosis for poulticing for headaches, an antidote for poisonous fish or crab, for contraception in women, and many others.
It is also grown for its ornamental foliage as a hedge in parks, along roadside or beaches.
It grows well in full sun and well drained saline salts.
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