Flame-of-the-woods
StarIxora coccinea
Synonyms: Pavetta coccinea
Western Herbalism Properties
Traditional Uses
Ixora coccinea is a long-used medicinal plant in Ayurveda and South and Southeast Asian folk medicine. The flowers and roots are used for dysentery, diarrhoea and dysmenorrhoea, the flower decoction taken for bleeding disorders and the condition described as "Rakta Paaka," while leaf and root preparations are applied to wounds, ulcers, sores and skin complaints (Ayurvedic materia medica; Indian ethnobotany). Modern pharmacological studies of the leaves and flowers report antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity, supporting the traditional wound and gastrointestinal applications (peer-reviewed phytochemical studies of I. coccinea).
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Botanical Description
Ixora coccinea, flame-of-the-woods or jungle geranium, is a dense, much-branched evergreen shrub of the Rubiaceae growing 1-4 m tall. The leathery leaves are opposite or whorled, oblong to elliptic, 5-12 cm long, with rounded to heart-shaped bases clasping the stem and conspicuous interpetiolar stipules. The flowers are crowded into showy dense terminal corymbose cymes; each flower has a slender tube 2.5-5 cm long opening into four (rarely five) spreading lobes, typically brilliant scarlet to orange-red, sometimes pink, yellow or white in cultivars. The fruit is a small fleshy berry, red ripening to blackish, containing two seeds. Native to southern India and Sri Lanka, it is now cultivated and naturalised throughout the tropics as a hedge and ornamental, growing in open forest, scrub and gardens and flowering more or less year-round in warm climates.
This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace professional medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before using any herbal remedy, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, or taking medications.
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