Rangoon creeper can be found in the tropical forests of Asia, including the  Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, India, China, and Taiwan. It also thrives in Papua New Guinea and parts of Africa. 

The plant is also known as Chinese honeysuckle.  It is a vine with beautiful edible flowers that are used extensively in both Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine.

The flowers are edible and are used in medicines as are the leaves and seeds.

Caution:

It is not advisable to eat the fresh seeds of this plant due to reported cases of hiccups, abdominal pain and distention, and diarrhea.  The same effects have also been observed when dried or roasted seeds are eaten on  consecutive days.

In traditional medicine, decoctions of seeds, roots, or fruits are often used for deworming. Pounded leaves are used topically to treat skin infections such as scabies. Boiled flowers are taken orally to treat headaches and rheumatism.  Decoctions of leaves are taken to ease flatulence.

In Ayurvedic medicine, the seeds are used cautiously to expel intestinal parasites.  No more than four seeds are used for children and ten for adults.  This is done once only because of the toxicity.

The leaves and flowers are used for spematorrhoea and leucorrhoea. These are ground or juiced.  For diabetes, the juice is extracted and sometimes mixed with  the juice of bitter melon.  For colds and coughs, one gram of leaves and flowers are mixed with holy basil (tulsi) and cloves.

Dr. Thomas Efferth conducted a systematic search of 76 plants used in traditional Chinese medicine.  Of these, the constituents found in 18 of the plants, including Rangoon creeper, contained constituents with potential anti-cancer activity.

He stated, “We are combining natural substance research with advanced analytical and molecular-biological methods.”  Three of the plant’s active constituents helped to suppress the growth of tumor cell lines (in vitro).  He then added, “Plant constituents that seem particularly promising are immediately subjected to further tests.”

Combretastatin, derived from South African “bush willow”, Combretum caffrum has been shown to inhibit angiogenesis, resulting in tumor necrosis.

C. indicum is reported to contain 1-desgalloyleugeniin; 1,6-di-O-galloyl-b-D-glucose; 2,3-di-o-galloyl-D-glucose; 2,3-(S)-HHDP-4-O-galloyl-D-glucose; 2,3-(S)-HHDP-6-O-galloyl-D-glucose; 2,3-(S)-HHDPA6-di-O-galloyl-D-glucose; 3,4-di-O-galloyl-D-glucose; 4,6-di-O-galloyl-D-glucose; 5-desgalloylstachyurin; arachidic acid; brevifolin carboxylic acid; castalagin; casuariin; citric acid; ellagic acid; eugeniin; flavogallonic acid; L-asparagine; L-proline; linoleic acid; malic acid; oleic acid; palmitic acid; pelargonidin-3-glucoside; pedunculagin; potassium quisqualate; punicalagin; punicalin; pyvidine; quisqualic acid; quisqualin A; quisqualin B; succinic acid; sucrose; fructose; rutin; stearic acid; trigonelline.

http://www.globinmed.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=105733:combretum-indicum-l-defilipps

Anthelmintic. Antipyretic. Anti-diarrheal. Anti-flatulent.

For skin diseases: Analgesic. Anti-inflammatory

Download:

http://ijppr.humanjournals.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/17.C.N.Ramesh-M.Balakrishnan-K.B.Chandra-Sekhar.pdf

Scientists at the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) are systematically analyzing the constituents of medicinal plants used in traditional Chinese medicine.

https://www.dkfz.de/en/presse/pressemitteilungen/2008/dkfz_pm_08_08.php

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4213780/

https://assessment.ifas.ufl.edu/site/assets/files/4750/combretum_indicum_wra2016-1.pdf