Bleeding-Heart Vine

Overview

Bleeding-heart vine is native to tropical Western Africa, but is commonly cultivated in tropics and subtropics around the world. It is considered a casual alien species in Singapore. It is widely grown as an ornamental, valued especially for its floral display. Its specific epithet thomsoniae is named after Thomas Thomson who was a superintendent of the Calcutta Botanic Garden. 

Vernacular Names

Genpei-kusagi (Japan), Taik-pan-gyi (Myanmar), Clara Lisa (Cuban), Kletternder Losstrauch (German), Bandera Danesa (Puerto Rico), Brokklerodendrum (Sweden), Bandera Holandesa (Dominican Republic), Nona Makan Sirih (Indonesia), Lágrima-de-cristo (Portuguese Republic), Prestetre (Norway), Poompohga (Cameroon).

Agroecology

C. thomsoniae is mostly known as a garden ornamental plant but it occurs outside cultivated areas. It grows well under full sun or partial shade. It prefers a moist, fertile (lots of organic materials), and well-drained soil. Established plants are drought resistant and they can flower all year round. They need pruning after blooming season.

Morphology

• Stems –obtusely quadrangular, puberulent, nodes annulate, stipules absent.
• Leaves – simple, opposite, 5.2-14 × 2.7-7 cm, elliptical or lanceolate, chartaceous, apex acuminate, base obtuse or rounded, green, glabrous above and slightly paler beneath, slightly pubescent on veins both sides, veins unclear above and prominent beneath.
• Flowers – inflorescence axillary, dichasial or trichomously cymes, bracts minute, subulate. Bisexual, zygomorphic. Calyx campanulata, 1.5-2.5 cm long, white, puberulent. corolla hypocrateriform, 5 lobed, lobes oblanceolate, apex truncate, scarlet red or pink, glabrous, corolla tube narrow, cylindric 3-5 cm long. The sepals lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate, connate at the base.
• Fruits - drupaceous, succulent, covered by the calyx, 2.3 cm long, round or depressed-globose, 10-14 mm long and wide, glossy black, 2-bilobed.
• Seeds – oblong and pyrenes.

Cultivation

• It is usually carried out by stem cuttings and the cuttings need warm temperature and enough water. It probably takes 4-6 weeks for the new shoot to grow.

Chemical Constituents

Alkaloids, saponins, triterpenoids and anthraquinones.

Traditional Medicinal Uses

In India and Japan traditional systems of medicine, this plant is used for the treatment of various life-threatening diseases such as syphilis, typhoid, cancer, jaundice and hypertension. While in other parts of the world, it is included in various ancient literature as the medicine for asthma, pyreticosis, cataract, malaria, and diseases of blood, skin and lung. In Cameroon, it is commonly used for the treatment of obesity and diabetes.