Botany
· An erect or more or less spreading shrub or very small tree.
· Leaves: alternate, ovate 7 to 12 cm in length, usually somewhat rounded at the base, pointed at the tip and toothed at the margins.
· Flowers: very small and borne on terminal inflorescence, with the female flowers situated toward the base of each inflorescence.
· Fruits: capsules, ellipsoid, or obscurely 3-angled, 1.5 to 2 cm long and contains a single seed. Seed: ovoid or oblong, 12 to 15 mm in length and 3-angled, the testa dark-brown or blackish, thin and brittle and of faint odor; the albumen and the embryo are yellowish. Seeds are at first mild in taste and subsequent acrid and pungent.

Distribution
Usually planted, in and about towns, throughout the Philippines; naturalized in some places.

Parts utilized
· Roots and fresh leaves.
· Roots collected year round
· Rinse, cut into sections, and sun-dry.

Characteristics and Pharmacological Effects:
Pungent taste, warming, antipyretic, aids in gastrointestinal disorders, and antiinflammatory.
Toxic in excessive internal use.

Folkloric uses
· For rheumatic pains of the legs and waist: use 3 to 6 gms of dried material in the form of decoction.
· Pounded fresh leaves may be applied as poultice for snakebites or may be used as insecticide.
· For sprains and bone pains: Oiled leaves or bark material are heated and applied to painful areas.

Availability
Wild-crafted.