Botany
A low, erect or spreading, branching perennial undershrub, growing to 50 cm. Leaves are alternate, crowded toward the end of the branches, narrowly obovate-cuneate, 2-3 cm long, densely and softly covered with short, grayish-white hairs; the base is long and narrow, the apex is prominently 3- to 5-toothed or lobed, and the lobes are ovate to narrowly oblong. Flowering heads are borne in the upper axils of the leaves, peduncled from the terminal leafy racemes, somewhat rounded, about 4-5 mm in diameter.

Distribution
In open slopes, near the sea.
Probably introduced to the Philippines in the early Spanish times.
Native to China.
Ornamental cultivation.

Properties
Leaves and tops considered carminative and emmenagogue.

Parts used
Leaves and stems.

Uses
Folkloric
Not well known for its folkloric medicinal use.
In the some parts of rural Quezon, used for hepatitis and arthritis.
In Taiwan, a folkloric medicine for common colds, rheumatoid arthritis..
In China, leaves and stems used in making moxa.

Availability
• Antioxidant / Antiproliferative: Both water and methanol extract showed ability to dose-dependently scavenge free radicals. The water extract showed higher antioxidant and antiproliferative activities than the methanol extract.Study showed the water extract of Crossostephium chinensis might be used as a potential source of natural antioxidants and as anti-tumor agent.
•Chemical Constituents: Study isolated eight compounds from the whole plant of C chinense: taraxerol, alpha-amyrin acetate, beta-amyrin acetate, beta-sitosterol, 3-beta-acetoxy-12ursen-11-one, uracil and 5-O-methyl-myo-inositol. Six were isolated for the first time.
• Insulin Secretion Effects: Chemical constituents isolated from the whole herb were tested on its effects on insulin secretion in rat islets. Quercetagetin-3,6,7-trimethylether and 5-O-methyl-myo-inositol showed to enhance rat islet insulin secretion while scopletin suppressed rat islet insulin secretion.
• Sesquiterpenes / Coumarins: Study of ethanolic extract yielded crossostephin and coumarin, biscopoletin, with four other known compounds, artesin, tanacetin, scopoletin and scopolin.

Availability
Wild-crafted