Bauhinia Purpurea
Bauhinia purpurea L. is a deciduous tree. Leaves are simple and stipulate. Blade is butterfly shaped, coriaceous with 9-11 pairs of secondary veins. Flowers are showky, pink and arranged in axillary. The fruits are darkish pods, 1.5 cm and woody. Origin: Native to India and grown in the Asia-Pacific as ornamental plants. Traditional Medicinal Uses: The root is grated with water and is drunk to treat common fever. The flowers are used as laxative and leaves applied to sores and boils, and for cough treatment. Pharmacological Activities: Antibacterial, Antifungal, Antimalarial, Cytotoxic, Anticancer, Anti-inflammatory Antinociceptive, Antipyretic and Thyroid hormone regulating. Bauhinia purpurea L. ( Leguminosae ) Butterfly...
Read MoreBixa Orellana
Bixa orellana L. is a small tree with simple and spiral leaves, 10-20 cm by 6.3-12.5 cm, dark green, ovate, acuminate, truncate at the base and glabrous. Flowers are large, 5 cm in diameter, pinkish or white, arranged in terminal panicles. Fruits are dehiscent, ovoid capsules containing 15-20 trigonous seeds in bright red pulp. Origin: Originate from tropical America. Cultivated Pantropically. Traditional Medicinal Uses: The leaves have been used to treat snakebites and jaundice and the seed is considered a good cure for gonorrhea. The bark of the root is used to treat fever and as an aperient. In Cambodia, the leaves are a popular febrifuge while in Indonesia, water in which the leaves are rubbed is poured over the head of children with fever. In Malaysia, the...
Read MoreCananga Odorata
Cananga odorata ( Lam. ) Hook. f. & Th. is a shrub which grows to a height of 4 m. Its bark is grey and smooth. Leaves are simple, alternate, exstipulate, oblong to bradly elliptic, large, 3-6.5 cm across, 8.5-29 cm long, with distinct venation pattern. Flowers are fragrant, in clusters on older branches. Fruit turns black on maturity and has many seeds in two rows. Origin: Originates from Indochina, Malesia and tropical Australia. Traditional Medicinal Uses: It is used for asthma, malaria, fever, cholera, typhoid, scabies, dermatitis, ulcer and wounds. The seeds are used for stomach complaints with fever and in Indonesia, the bark is used for scabies. In Malaysia, a paste of fresh flowers is applied to the chest for asthma and to treat malaria. In Solomon...
Read MoreCalophyllum Inophyllum
Calophyllum inophyllum L. is a large tree with broad, glossy, leathery, elliptic-oblong leaf blades, 8-16 cm by 4-8 cm, and with numerous parallel side veins. The tree bears sweetly scented white flowers in erect racemes. Fruits are globose, 2 cm across and green in colour. Origin: It is found in Africa, tropical and temperate Asia, Australasia and the Pacific. Traditional Medicinal Uses: The whole plant is used as a crude drug for curing rheumatism and skin affections in South India. Its juice is a purgative and the seed oil is specific for rheumatism and various skin diseases ( i.e.,scabies, ringworm and dermatosis). The bark is used for internal haemorrhage and as an astringent. In Buso, Papua Guinea, the milky latex from the leaves is diluted with water and...
Read MoreCapsicum Annuum
Capsicum annuum L. is a small herb that can grow up to 1 m tall. Leaves are oblong-ovate, ovate, or ovate-lanceolate, 4-13 cm by 1,5-4 cm with entire margin. Flowers are small, white or tinged purple. Fruits are mostly red, but can be green, orange, yellow and can grow up to 15 cm. Seeds are pale yellow, discoid or reniform and 3-5 mm. Origin: Native to Mexico and South America, widely cultivated throughout the world. Traditional Medicinal Uses: The leaves are used to treat toothache. The fruits are used to stimulate gastric activities and increase blood circulation. It is also a stimulant, carminative, and used locally for neuralgia and for rheumatism. Uterine pain associated with childbirth is treated with soup containing the fruit. The Commission E approved...
Read MoreBarringtonia Racemosa
Barringtonia racemosa (L.) K. Spreng is a small tree with large, simple leaves about 20 cm long. Flowers are large with numerous pinkish stamens. The fruit is ellipsoid, green, 8 cm long, and turns red upon maturity. Origin: Native to Africa, temperate and tropical Asia, Australasia and the Pacific. Traditional Medicinal Uses: The plant is widely used in the form of a decoction in Sri Lankan traditional medicine. The leaves and bark are used for rat and snake bites, rat poisoning and on boils. The fruits are used for cough, asthma and diarrhea. Kernels of the drupe are mixed with milk to treat bilious diseases and jaundice whereas the seed has been used as an insecticide and tonic. The seeds along with other ingredients are employed in preparations for...
Read MoreBarringtonia Asiatica
Barringtonia asiatica L. is a large tree bearing large simple leaves, 20-30 cm long which taper to the leaf base. Flowers are large and white with several white stamens. The flowers are actinomorphic and have four petals. The fruit is oblong, green, large, 8-10 cm across and contains one seed. Origin: Native to Africa, temperate and tropical Asia and Australasia. Traditional Medicinal Uses: The plant is used to treat fungal infections, burns and wounds. The leaves are heated and used to treat stomachache and rheumatism in the Philippines. Its fruits are used as a fish poison and the fruit juice for controlling scabies while the seeds are used for the expulsion of intestinal worms and also as a fish poison. They are also used to treat sores, cough, influenza,...
Read MoreAzadirachta Indica A. Juss
Azadirachta indica A. Juss is a tall evergreen tree, growing up to 30 m in height. Leaves are pinnate with opposite or alternate, lanceonate, serrated and glabrous 8-16 leaflets, 20-32 cm long. Flowers are yellowish white. Friuts are small, ellipsoid, about 5 cm long and green. Origin: A native of India and China, cultivated and naturalized throughtout India, Malay Peninsula, Indonesia and Pakistan. Traditional Medicinal Uses: It is used for the treatment of a variety of human and veterinary ailments including head lice, mange, fleas, fever, convulsions, leprosy, scrofula, rheumatism, asthma, worn infestations, treat bacterial infection, insecticide, local application for indolent ulcer and consumed as tonic after childbirth. It is used for boils heart...
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