Senduduk, an experiment on taming a wild plant.

Senduduk has always been wild. The scientific name is Melastoma malabathricum. If land is cleared, amongs the first plant to grow will be senduduk, with its unmistakenly purple flower. The propagation is definitely by birds. The three senduduk with us now in Putrajaya Home is coming to a year and 4 months old. A rare senduduk with white flowers is said to have medicinal properties. But our senduduk has purple flowers.

I walked the other day around our little housing scheme, I saw a different senduduk in an owner's garden. The flowers and leaves are different and they look very much like a tamed or domesticated specie, the leaves are longer and softer, the flowers are of darker purple and a bit elongated.

Recently, a friend took away fresh leaves , because he said, senduduk leaves has rejuvenating elements if mixed with water and pour down as bath. He used them for his daughter who had just delivered a baby boy.

Our senduduks act as demarcation, separating one section to another in our little vegetable garden. The plants are so tough and hardy, and I never see one wilting anywhere in Malaysia!

senduduk

three in a row
and
we let each plant to have 2-3 stems

The leaves

The row
of senduduks, regularly trimmed

The row
of senduduks , regularly trimmed

The stems
are about the size of my big toe!

The stems

and the scars due to prunings.
These stems are definitely bigger than those growing wild,
now that the are tamed and domesticated.

the flower

the colour I like very much

When senduduks are trimmed, the leaves and branches become mulch!... like they say, earth to earth , ashes to ashes .. or in Bahasa Malaysia, pulang ke tanah jua semuanya...