Johor Ethnobotany Database
Dianella ensifolia (L.) DC.
Common name: Setanggi, Umbrella Dracaena
Local name (Jakun): Kesiak
Family: Xanthorrhoeaceae
Taxonomic classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Asparagales
Family: Xanthorrhoeaceae
Genus: Dianella
Species: Dianella ensifolia (L.) DC.
Discription
Growth Form: It is a herb that consists of creeping, much-branched rhizome (horizontal stem growing at ground level) from which arise at regular intervals, roots and up to 2 m-tall clumping, flowering stems.
Foliage: Its flowering stem bears two rows ofalternate, stalkless leaves. The leaves have leathery leaf blades that are sword-shaped, tapered at both ends, and 25–100 by 0.4–3.0 cm, with sheaths at their bases.
Flowers: Its flowering shoot is up to about 61 cm long, and extended from the tip of its stem. It bears flowers up to 0.6 cm wide, with white or bluish-white petals and sepals, and bright yellow-orange anthers.
Fruits: Its ripe fruits are round, shiny, deep blue berries, up to 1.5 cm wide, and contain 3–6 seeds. Its seeds are ovoid, 3–5 mm long, shiny, and black.
Habitat
Low altitude evergreen rainforest, often beside rivers, in a deep shade of forest floor, usually forming dense stands. Forests and grassy slopes from near sea level to elevations of 1,700 meters in southern China
Habit
Perennial herb
Ethnobotanical uses
Medicinal uses:
Roots - for women's health and to immediate post-partum period