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Botany
Erect, branched
and smooth shrub, 1-3 meters high. Leaves are short-stalked,
elliptic-lanceolate to oblong-elliptic, 5-12 cms, narrowed at
both ends. Inflorescences are axillary and terminal; the flowers
are few. Calyx is green, ovoid, and short. Corolla is white,
slender-tubed, 1.7 cm long; limb is 2 to 2.5 cm in diameter,
composed of five, spreading, falcate, lanceolate lobes. Follicles
are red, oblong, 2-4 cm long, and longitudinally ridged.
Distribution
Common in thickets
at low altitudes.
Parts
utilized
Leaves.
Folkloric uses:
· Eczema:
Boil 3 cups of chopped leaves in one gallon of water for 10 minutes;
add 2 gallons of hot water.Also, fry the fresh leaves in oil
and apply to itchy skins lesions for symptomatic relief.
· Wound healing: Leaf juice.
· Hot Foot Baths: A local immersion bath covering the
feet, ankles and legs used for a variety of conditions: To relieve
head, chest and pelvic congestion; to stop nosebleeds; to relieve
spasms and pains of feet and legs; to induce sweating; to relieve
menstrual cramps and headaches.
· Leaves applied as cataplasm on abdomen to hasten childbirth.
· Erectile dysfunction: Recent use as "herbal viagra."
Boil 15-25 leaves in 3 glasses of water
for 10 minutes; drink the decoction. (Note:
Like many of the herbal medicines touted as "herbal viagra,"
kampupot use is rural folkloric with no known scientific or pharmacologic
basis for its claim.)
· Decoction of root and bark used for a varitety of stomach
and intestinal ailments.
· The white sap of the stem is applied to thorn injuries
and to hasten the surfacing of the thorn fragment.
Availability
Wild-crafted.
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