DRAGON TAIL PLANT (Epipremnum Pinnatum)
Commonly known as the dragon tail plant or "Loong-Wei" in Chinese, this is a stout, non-woody, epiphytic climber of up to 20 meter long. Its alternate, stalked leaves are 24-45 cm long, and its oblong leathery leaf blades are divided into linear, tapered lobes of about 30 cm long. Its flowers are borne on a cylindrical flowering shoot (spadix) about 10 by 1.3 cm, enclosed by a 10 cm long boat shaped tapered and greenish-white modified leaf. It grows in dense forest, in hills and lowlands. It can be found distributed in India, Bangladesh, China, Taiwan, South East Asia including Singapore, Papua New Guinea, Northern Australia and Solomon Islands. It is critically endangered in Singapore.
In Bali, the leaves and especially the young shoots are fed to cattle, and used to cause evacuation of parasitic intestinal worms in horses. The external covering of the aerial roots are used to blacken teeth, and the inner parts of the roots are used to make baskets. It was at one time thought to be a cure for cancer in Malaysia and Singapore. This has some partial scientific support as its leaf extracts have shown some anti-tumour activity. Currently it is often grown as an ornamental plant.
In Bali, the leaves and especially the young shoots are fed to cattle, and used to cause evacuation of parasitic intestinal worms in horses. The external covering of the aerial roots are used to blacken teeth, and the inner parts of the roots are used to make baskets. It was at one time thought to be a cure for cancer in Malaysia and Singapore. This has some partial scientific support as its leaf extracts have shown some anti-tumour activity. Currently it is often grown as an ornamental plant.