Closeup of Rangoon Creeper with its fragrant tri-color flowers.
Rangoon Creeper (Quisqualis Indica L.) is also known as Chinese Honeysuckle. Its common name in the vernacular is Niyog-niyogan or Tartaraok.
A member of the Combretaceae family, it is a ligneous vine that can reach from 2.5 meters to up to 8 meters. The leaves are elliptical with an acuminate tip and a rounded base. They grow from 7 to 15 centimeters and their arrangement is opposite. The flowers are fragrant and tubular and their color varies from white to pink to red. The 30 to 35 mm long fruit is ellipsoidal and has five prominent wings. The fruit tastes like almonds when mature. Rangoon Creeper is a rather common plant in Thailand. I took this picture in Koh Phangan. Rangoon Creeper is found in thickets or secondary forests in Asia. It has since been cultivated and naturalized in other areas. It is one of the 10 medicinal plants defined as a Philippine herbal plant that the Philippine Department of Health, through its “Traditional Health Program”, has endorsed. It has been tested and have been clinically proven to have medicinal value in the relief and treatment of various aliments.
Traditional uses include:
Aside from its excellent medicinal properties, Rangoon Creeper is also a wonderful plant for landscaping particularly in trellises and fences. The dense foliage can serve as visual barriers and the flowers provide fragrance and color. In my design project in Guangzhou, China, an electrical meter mounted on the external wall is unbearable to look at from the interior. To solve this problem, my client and I bought a potted Rangoon Creeper tall enough to suit our purpose. Once fully established, the plant as we envision, will completely obscure the eyesore. I first took notice of Rangoon Creeper at a friend's house in Bangkok. The trellise in front of his house, pictured here, has Rangoon Creeper over-flowing with flowers. It made a real impression on me and since then, it became one of my favorite flowering plants.
