Barau-barau
Chloranthus elatior
- Names in the book
- The book records no Philippine name for this plant.
- Names from other sources
- Barau-barau, Luzon; Lagrimas, Tagalog and Bikol; Tul-an hinbad, Samar; Tunggao, Tagbanua. Lagrimas is Spanish for "tears". Listed by StuartXchange and PROSEA.
- Colours
- flowerwhitefruitwhite
- Native range
- Himalaya through Southeast Asia to New Guinea
- In the Philippines, per the book
- La Laguna and other provinces of Luzon. Blooms in September.
- Family
- Chloranthaceae, filed in the book under Chloranthaceæ
- Printed as
- Chloranthus officinalis, Bl. (C. Indicus, Wight.; C. inconspicuus, Blanco.)
The plant today
No openly licensed description of this plant was found.
Recorded in the Philippines
GBIF holds 235 records of this plant from the Philippines. The ones with map coordinates fall in 15 provinces, most often Laguna (8), South Cotabato (6), Palawan (5), Samar (3), Sorsogon (3), Negros Occidental (2), Negros Oriental (2), Quezon (2), and 7 more.
Counts from GBIF occurrence records, October 2026. They include planted trees and garden plants, and a province with no records may only lack collectors.
What the 1901 book says
A historical record, quoted as printed. Doses and remedies here are not medical advice.
Uses
All parts of the plant are aromatic. The leaves and stems lose this property after drying, but the roots, if properly dried, preserve it for a long time. They have a camphoraceous odor and bitter, aromatic taste, reminding one of that of Aristolochia Serpentaria. The mountaineers of Java use an infusion of the powdered root and the bark of the Cinnamomum Culilowan to treat puerperal eclampsia. Combined with carminatives like anise and onion, they use it with some success in virulent small-pox of children. The infusion seems to be efficacious in fevers accompanied by debility and suppression of the function of the skin. It has also been prescribed in the intermittent fevers of Java, mixed with an infusion of the leaves of the Cedrela Toona. Blume states that it is one of the most powerful stimulants known.
Botanical description
A plant 3–4° high. Stem quadrangular. Leaves opposite, broad, lanceolate, serrate, with stiff-pointed teeth and somewhat scaly beneath. Petioles very short, clasping the stem at their base, with 2 intermediate stipules ending in two awl-shaped points. Flowers compound in axillary spikes, which bear the flowerets in 2 ranks, each flower with a keeled bract. The corolla (if it may be so called) a fleshy, 3-lobed lamina. Perianth wanting. Receptacle dome-shaped. Anthers 4, inserted on the surface of the lamina, 2-valved. Ovary 1-celled, with 1 ovule. Style short. Berry-like fruit, globose, with 1 seed covered by a somewhat brittle membrane.
Recent research
The most cited papers since 2022 that name this plant in the title, pulled from Europe PMC in October 2026. Titles are the authors' own and the findings have not been reviewed here.
- Antifungal activity of volatile and non-volatile metabolites of endophytes of Chloranthus elatior Sw
- Chemical Constituents from Chloranthus elatior and Their Inhibitory Effect on Human Dihydroorotate Dehydrogenase
- Phytoconstituents of Chloranthus elatior as a potential adjunct in the treatment of anxiety disorders: In vivo and in silico approaches