Synonyms

Drimys angiensis Kaneh. & Hatus.; Drimys buxifolia Ridl.; Drimys piperita Hook.f.; Drimys reducta Diels; Drimys versteegii Diels; Tasmannia buxifolia (Ridl.) A.C. Sm. (POWO 2019)

Local Names

Philippines: Ali (Bukidnon); amututin, inototan, pamototen (Igorot); bawang (Manobo); lupol (Bontok); sapal (Kankanay); malagus (Bagobo) humang an hawili inalahan (Ifugao) (Madulid 2001), hapal (Tinoc, Ifugao) (Balangcod and Balangcod 2011).

Indonesia: Akway (Papuan Malay) (Cepeda et al. 2011).

English: Common mint (De Jesus 2018).

Botany and Ecology

Description: Tasmannia piperita (Hook.f.) Miers is a shrub (LaFrankie 2010) reaching 1 m high (Fig. 1) or tree up to 12 m tall, but usually a small tree up to 4 m tall (De Jesus 2018); trunk is slender to very slender branches (Vink 1970), but tall, large individuals can reach up to 25 cm diameter, aromatic when cut (De Jesus 2018). The average diameter at breast height (DBH) of T. piperita is much smaller (0.6 cm) in reforested areas compared to old growth forests with 4.0 cm as observed in Mt. Apo, Philippines (Anticamara et al. 2012). Leaves simple, alternately or spirally arranged. Lamina, 2–15 cm long by 1–4.5 cm wide, lanceolate to elliptic, base cuneate, apex acute to acuminate, young leaves usually reddish, including young stems and petioles (De Jesus 2018), spicy foliage that is glabrous, shiny and dark green above and whitish below (LaFrankie 2010); flowers in short fascicles, 1–3 flower, sometimes 5, usually unisexual (De Jesus 2018) to well-stalked solitary flowers (Fig. 2), axillary to a spiral cluster of leaves (LaFrankie 2010); sepals of the central flower are always parallel to the bract, both in single-flowered and in three-flowered florescence, although bracteoles are absent, the lateral flowers could be expected to have a similar influence on the orientation of the sepals of the terminal (central) flower; the flower primordium is dorsiventrally flattened and slanting adaxially (Vink 1970); calyx hood-like, rupturing as the flower opens, petals 5–12, white, spreading; stamens in male flowers up to 60 or more in several series; carpels in female flowers 3–12, short stalked; fruit of 3–12 follicles, each globular to blunt-ellipsoid, pale green, ripening red then purplish-black; seeds many per follicle, curved, dark brown to black (De Jesus 2018). Due to the wide distribution of this plant ranging from montane to subalpine rainforests, subpopulations have been formed, corresponding to several subspecies, differing on their ecology and wood anatomy (Carlquist 1989).

Fig. 1
figure 1

Tasmannia piperita shrub with its slender trunk. (© M.S. Subilla)

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Fig. 2
figure 2

Leaf arrangement and inflorescence of T. piperita with solitary flowers. (© M.S. Subilla)

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Phenology: Observed to be flowering from October to November in Mt. Pulag, Benguet (Aguilar et al. 2000) and from late April to early June in Hungduan, Ifugao with seeds ripening from October to November (Taguiling and Villena 2017). In the Philippines, it is propagated by seeds only (De Jesus 2018). In the review paper from Feild et al. (2000), T. piperita in New Guniea are reported to reproduce primarily by stem sprouts while other subspecies reproduce by subterranean stolons.

Distribution and Habitat: Distributed throughout Lesser Sunda Islands (Flores), Borneo (Sarawak, Sabah, Brunei, Kalimantan), Philippines, Sulawesi (Pelser et al. 2011; POWO 2019); East Coast of Australia to Tasmania (LaFrankie 2010); Australia (Queensland, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, Victoria), Flores, Moluccas, New Guinea. LUZON: Abra, Mountain Province (Mt. Data), Ifugao (Mt. Polis, Kiangan, and Banawe), Benguet (Mt. Pulog and Pauai), Bataan (upper Lamao River and Mt. Mariveles), Rizal (Balacbac, Angilog), Laguna, Camarines Sur (Mt. Isarog), MINDORO: Mindoro Oriental (Mt. Halcon), PALAWAN: (Mt. Mantalingahan), PANAY: Antique (Mt. Madia-as), NEGROS: Negros Occidental (Mt. Malbug), Negros Oriental (Cuernos Mtns), BILIRAN (Mt. Suiro), MINDANAO: Misamis Occidental (Mt. Malindang), Bukidnon (Mt. Kitanglad, Mt. Candoon and Malaybalay), Agusan del Norte (Mt. Hilong-hilong), Davao del Sur (Mt. Batangan; Mt. McKinley; Mt. Apo) (Pelser et al. 2011). Mostly in montane forests, 840–2700 m, on limestone and ultramafic soils (Pelser et al. 2011; De Jesus 2018). The species forms the dominant understory vegetation of the upper montane forest in Sulawesi, Indonesia (Brambach et al. 2017) but is also common in the mossy forest up to 2600 m elevation such as in Mt. Pulag National Park in Benguet (Aguilar et al. 2000). It thrives further in the different elevational gradients up to the summit scrub of Mt. Kinabalu National Park in Malaysia to as high as 3850 m altitude (Smith 1980; Hikosaka et al. 2002) to edges in subalpine rainforests and penetrates into frost-prone grasslands of high altitudes (>3000 m) in New Guinea (Vink 1970).

Conservation Status: Not assessed in the Philippines (De Jesus 2018) but considered as Critically Endangered species of Mt. Jaya, New Guinea (Utteridge and Edwards 2009).

Local Medicinal Uses

Indonesia: The bark is used by some tribes in New Guinea (De Jesus 2018) and the Sougb community of Sururey village in Manokwari (Cepeda et al. 2011) for the same purpose. In addition, the Sougb people also use the essential oil from the bark to enhance the vitality of their body (Cepeda et al. 2011). Philippines: In Cordillera Region, the dried fruit and decoction of leaves are used to counter diarrhea and stomach disorders; leaves are also used to remedy cough and colds (De Jesus 2018). The Kalanguyas of Tinoc, Ifugao, consume the plant to relieve muscle pain and muscle cramps during menstruation (Balangcod and Balangcod 2011). The leaves are also used in India for treating malaria (Bahekar and Kale 2013).

Phytochemistry

In a phytochemical survey involving 59 herbarium specimens of the Winteraceae and related families, T. piperita (Hook.f.) Miers was found to contain distinctive leaf flavonoid profile including quercetin, luteolin, apigenin, Luteolin 7,3′-dimethyl ether, Flavone C-glycoside, dihydroquercetin, and procyanidin (William and Harvey 1982). Flavonoids are generally known to be powerful antioxidant agents. Using the charcoal tracing method, the antispasmodic constituents of the leaves of this plant were identified as 15-Nonacosanol and bis(tridecyl)phthalate (Pladio and Villaseñor 2004). The essential oil extract from the bark consisted of 41 compounds of which 80.49% are terpene and its derivatives, and 4.88% are aliphatic compounds (Cepeda et al. 2011). The bark extracts are also found to have potential antibacterial properties (Cepeda et al. 2015, 2019; Zakariyah et al. 2018). Further characterization of bark essential oil reveals the presence of lynalool, β-pinene, α-pinene, nerolidol, and terpineol (Cepeda et al. 2018), with physical properties being light yellowish in color, solubility in 80% alcohol in 1:2 ratio, and a refractive index of 1.4942 (Zakariyah et al. 2018). The free radical scavenging properties of the plant extract is attributed to the presence of biological transition metals namely Mg, Cu, and Fe that bond with the complex organic components (Hutasoit et al. 2019).

Local Food Uses

In Mountain Province, Philippines, fresh or dried young leaves are boiled in water and drunk as herbal tea, while the dried fruits are chewed or ground (Pladio and Villaseñor 2004). However, due to their bitter and pungent taste, these are only consumed for medicinal purposes and simply swallowed whole. In Hungduan, Ifugao, the bitterness of the leaves is neutralized with the addition of leaves of Sarcandra glabra, another herbal tea popular in the locality for its medicinal value (Taguiling and Villena 2017). The combination of these two herbal tea was formulated to make the taste more acceptable while also maximizing health benefits derived from them.

Biocultural Importance

T. piperita has been considered as an icon for forest restoration in the geothermal areas of the highest mountain in the Philippines, the majestic Mount Apo, through joint efforts of Energy Development Corporation, UP Diliman-Institute of Biology, and the indigenous Manobo and Bagobo communities in Mindanao Island (De Jesus 2018).

Economic Importance

An organic or natural fungicide from leaves of T. piperita is being developed by the Central Mindanao University in the Philippines to prevent leaf spot disease of lettuce caused by Alternaria brassicae, and the late blight disease of tomato caused by Phytophthora infestans (Zaragoza 2019). The antibacterial properties of the bark, suggests that it could be used as preservative for meat products both at room temperature as well as cold storage (Cepeda et al. 2020).