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Wednesday, February 8

Cassia alata



English names:

Ringworm shrub, winged senna, ringworm senna, candelabra bush, craw-craw plant.

Description:

Small shrub, about 1.5m. high, with horizontal branches. Leaves paripinnate, alternate; leaflets 8-12 pairs, broadly rounded, oblique at the base. Twigs and petioles usually reddish-brown. Inflorescence in axillary and terminal erect spike; flowers yellow. Pod long, slightly compressed, with winged margin. Seeds numerous, black.

Flowering period:

August - November.

Distribution:

Grows wild in wet places and is also cultivated for its ornamental foliage and showy flowers.

Parts used:

Leaves, harvested all the year round but preferably in April and May, before flowering. The leaves can be used fresh or dried.

Chemical composition:

The leaves contain anthraglucosides, chrysophanic acid and rhein.

Therapeutic uses:

The leaves and the stem have antiseptic and laxative properties. They are prescribed for constipation, oedema, hepatitis and icterus in a tea-like infusion. Dermatomycosis, tinea imbricata, ringworm, scabies and impetigo are treated externally by rubbing with pounded fresh leaves or by applying fresh leaf juice on the diseased parts. The powdered stem and leaves are used as a laxative in a daily dose of 4 to 8g. They are used as a purgative in a decoction in a single dose of 15 to 20g.

Source: Medicinal plants in Viet Nam (Institute of Materia Medica - HANOI - WHO/WPRO, 1990, 444 p.)

1 comment:

  1. astro-ph updates on arXiv.orgApril 7, 2011 at 9:03 AM

    Photometric signatures of multiple stellar populations in Galactic globular clusters. (arXiv:1103.5863v1 [astro-ph.SR]) - <a rel="nofollow"

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