The Medicinal Plants of the Philippines Part 23

_Luffa aegyptiaca_, Mill. (_L. pentandra_, Roxb.; _L. petola_, Ser.; _Momordica operculata_, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.--Probably bears the same names as the _Trichosanthes_.

Uses.--The root is a hydragogue cathartic even in minute doses. The fruit is emollient by virtue of the large quant.i.ty of mucilage it contains, but it is more interesting for other properties. When cut in two, deprived of epidermis and seeds, and washed until none of the mucilage remains, there is left a fibrous skeleton, a sort of skein of interwoven nets that const.i.tutes the so-called vegetable sponge. It serves the same purpose as a sponge and has the advantages that its fibers do not rot and that they are easily kept clean. In view of its cheapness and plentifulness in the Philippines the above advantages should suffice to bring it into universal use for the toilet, for surgical purposes and for cleaning in general.

Botanical Description.--A vine with square, glabrous stem. Leaves alternate, cordate, 3-5-lobulate, dentate, rough, 5-7-nerved. Petioles short. Flowers monoecious. Staminate in axillary panicles; calyx bell-shaped; corolla yellow, 5 oval petals, borders entire; stamens 3; filaments short; two thick ones divide high up in 2 parts, thus giving the appearance of 5 stamens in all. Pistillate axillary, calyx adherent, 5 pointed sepals; corolla, 5 nearly triangular petals, finely dentate; style thick, short, the base encircled by 3 glandules; stigma cordate. Ovary, 3 pseudo-locules formed by the central union of the placentas; pluriovulate. Fruit oblong, terminating at the apex in a deciduous lid or cover, marked with 8 or 10 black longitudinal lines; the interior reticulate, 3 compartments with many seeds, oval, black, flat with thin borders. The natives do not distinguish between this specimen and the _Trichosanthes_, but it is to be noted that the corolla of the former is not ravelled or fringed.

Habitat.--Common in Luzon and Panay. Blooms in January.

_Momordica balsamina_, L.

Nom. Vulg.--_Ampalaya_, _Ampalea_, Tag.; _Amargoso_, Sp.-Fil.; _Paria_, Iloc.; _Apalia_, Pam.; _Balsamina_, Sp.; _Balsam Apple_, Eng.

_M. charanta_, L. (_M. muricata_, Willd.; _M. cylindrica_, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.--The same as of _M. balsamina_.

Uses.--The fruit of both varieties is edible, though a bitter principle gives it such an intensely bitter taste that it is intolerable to the unaccustomed palate. It is eaten raw as a salad, or cooked with meat or fish. The juice of the leaves is prescribed internally as a purgative and anthelmintic. In Concan it is given alone or combined with aromatics, in bilious disorders as an emetic and purgative; externally they use it as an ointment for the itch and other skin diseases; in India it is mixed with cinnamon, pepper, rice and oil of _Hydnocarpus inebrians_, Vahl.

The fruit and leaves are used internally for worms and externally for leprosy. Some Hindoo writers state that the fruit is tonic and stomachic, and that it is useful in rheumatism, gout, diseases of the liver and spleen.

Botanical Description.--The first variety, _M. balsamina_, more common than the second, is a vine with angular stem and simple tendrils. Leaves, many serrate lobules with white dots on the ends. Flowers yellow, monoecious. Staminate solitary, peduncles very long, involucre cordate; calyx 5-lobed; corolla 5 petals; filaments simple, one separate, 2 approximated; anthers joined at their bases. Pistillate solitary; ovary, 3 locules and numerous ovules; stigma, 3 bifid divisions; fruit globose, narrowing at the ends, covered with tubercles; seeds numerous, lacking alb.u.men, having red aril.

The second variety, _M. cylindrica_, has a downy stem, 5-angled with simple tendrils. The leaves are 5-lobuled, cordate, serrate, with short hairs on under surface. Melon hollow, glabrous, very long, cylindrical, tapering at the ends, covered with tubercles, some elevated in longitudinal lines, others depressed; seeds in 3 rows, enveloped in pulpy arils, white, long quadrangular, truncate above, encircled by 2 rows of obtuse toothlets.

Habitat.--Both grow in all parts and are well known.

_Citrullus Colocynthis_, Schard. (_Cuc.u.mis Colocynthis_, L.)

Nom. Vulg.--_Coloquintida_, Sp.; _Colocynth_, _Bitter Apple_, Eng.

Uses.--The part employed is the fruit pulp, official in all the pharmacopoeias as a very energetic hydragogue cathartic. It is seldom given alone, but in combination with other drugs to modify its energy and its action.

In large doses it causes vomiting, b.l.o.o.d.y diarrhoea and a series of nervous phenomena that may end in death. Six to ten grams const.i.tute a toxic dose. It operates with most force upon the large intestines and sympathetically upon the uterus.

Dose.--Extract, 0.10-0.30 gram; powder, 0.30-1.00 gram.

The pulp contains a yellow, intensely bitter substance, quite soluble in water and in alcohol, discovered by Hubschmann and named by him _coloquintina_. The seeds contain 17% of an insipid oil.

Botanical Description.--An herb with long, prostrate stems covered with stiff hairs. Leaves alternate, triangular, deeply cleft in 3 lobules that subdivide. Petioles long. The color of the leaves is pale green above, whitish or gray and covered with white hairs underneath. Flowers yellow, monoecious, solitary, axillary, with long peduncles. Staminate: receptacle cup-formed, 5 sepals and 5 free, yellow petals; 5 stamens in pairs, one free. Pistillate: the receptacle globose, covering the lower part of the ovary; 3 staminodes take the place of the stamens. Ovary unilocular, uniovulate, with a short style bearing 3 lobules at its apex. Fruit globose, 6-8 centimeters in diameter, smooth, greenish, later yellow with white spots; it is full of a whitish pulp that becomes dry and pithy and that contains the obovate seeds, smooth, flattened, brown, lacking alb.u.men.

Habitat.--Manila.

FICOIDEae.

_Trianthema monogyna_, L. (_T. obcordata_, Roxb.; _Portulaca toston_ and _axiflora_, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.--_Toston_, Tag.; _Alusiman_, _Ayam_, Vis.

Uses.--This plant is edible, the natives eating it boiled, fried or in salad. The root is cathartic and is used powdered.

_Botanical Description._--A plant with prostrate stems, radiating branches. Leaves ensheathing the stem, opposite, oval, red-bordered, glabrous. Petioles with 2 stipules at the base and 2 small teeth near the middle. Flowers axillary, solitary, sessile. Calyx, 2 pointed sepals. Corolla, 5 oval petals. Stamens 15-20. Style simple. Seed vessels inversely pyramidal, dehiscence horizontal. Seeds numerous.

Habitat.--Very common in the rice fields. Blooms in January.

UMBELLIFERae.

Parsley Family.

_Hydrocotyle Asiatica_, L.

Nom. Vulg.--_Takip kohol_, _Takip suso_, Tag.; _Rabasa_, Sp.; _Indian Pennywort_, Indo-Eng.

Uses.--Dr. Daruty, of Mauritius, has published a study of this plant, giving a resume of its composition, therapeutic uses and physiological action. The writers of antiquity recognized the plant as a powerful alterative, tonic, diuretic, stimulant and vermifuge, especially effective in secondary syphilis and in ulcerative diseases of the skin.

Lepine and Boileau used it experimentally to treat leprosy and reported favorably; but later experience demonstrated that it did not exercise any specific effect, but benefited anaesthetic leprosy simply by improving the general condition of the patient.

The plant is official in the Pharmacopoeia of India, as alterative, tonic and stimulant. It states that the drug has been found very useful in the treatment of secondary and const.i.tutional syphilis, when the disease attacks the skin and subcutaneous tissue.

In Bombay it is a popular remedy for the mild dysentery of children, given as a decoction of 3 or 4 leaves with a little c.u.min seed and sugar; the bruised leaves are then applied to the umbilical region. In the Philippines the decoction of the leaves is given as a purge.

Dr. Dervegie reports good results in the treatment of eczema, administering the powdered leaf in dozes of 0.10 gram and applying locally the powder or an ointment of the same. The most marked and constant effects of the drug are a considerable increase of the urinary secretion, elevation of the temperature of the skin and profuse diaph.o.r.esis.

Dr. Boileau, quoted above, himself contracted leprosy of which he died; he experimented on himself with "hydrocotyle" and on one occasion a dose of 3 grams nearly proved fatal; tetanic symptoms supervened with suffocation, palpitation, epistaxis and rectal hemorrhage, abating finally with profuse sweating and diuresis.

Dr. Lepine, a pharmacist of Pondicherry, has a.n.a.lyzed the plant and isolated a substance that seems to be the active principle; he has named it _vallarin_, from "vallarai," the Tamul name of the plant. "Vallarin" is a thick, pale yellow oil of a piquant and persistent taste and an odor peculiar to the plant. It changes under the influence of air, moisture or heat and volatilizes at 120. It is soluble in alcohol. The plant contains 8/10 to 1% of this oil, a dark resin and a green resin.

The Pharmacopoeia of India gives 2 official formulae, a powder and a cataplasm. The powdered leaf is given internally in doses of 0.30 to 1.50 grams and is applied locally to superficial ulcers.

Botanical Description.--Plant herbaceous with reniform or heart-shaped leaves, forming a sort of funnel, dotted with little hairs, dentate with white tips. Petioles very long, ensheathing each other by 2 wings at their bases. Flowers 3-4, sessile, springing directly from the root, greenish-white, growing in horizontal rows on either side of a short, common peduncle. Common involucre of 2-3 leaflets. Calyx adherent, flattened, faintly toothed. Corolla, 5 small petals, ovate. Stamens 5, equal in height, inserted on the receptacle, alternating with the petals. Filaments short. Anthers globose, cleft at the base in 2 diverging parts. Ovary inferior, cordate, much flattened. Styles 2, short. Stigmas simple. Fruit truncate, oval, downy, indehiscent, marked with furrows, with 2 compartments each containing a seed inserted on the wall.

Habitat.--Grows in shady and moist places. Blooms in July.