Botany
Katil is a slender, erect, woody, little branched, and densely hairy plant. Stems are 30 to 50 centimeters. Leaflets are simple, linear-ligulate, and 2.5 to 5 centimeters in length. Flowers are yellow, 1 to 2, and borne on leaf axils. Pods are oblong, about 2 centimeters in length, and densely hairy.

Distribution
- In open grasslands, chiefly at medium altitudes, ascending to 2,000 meters in Cagayan, Isabela, Bontoc, Lepanto, Benguet, and Nueva Vizcaya Provincers in Luzon; in Semirara; in Culion; and in Mindanao.
- Widely distributed in China; also in India, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia, through Malaya to tropical Australia.

Constituents
- Grain with the husk yields albuminoids, starch, oil, ash, and phosphoric acid.
- Study of hexane and dichlormethane extract of roots yielded eight new prenylated flavonoids, khonklonginols A-H, together with six known compounds including five flavonoids: lupinifolinol, dehydrolupinifolinol, flemichin D, eriosemaone A, and lupinifolin, and one lignan, yangambin.

Properties
- Seeds are astringent, diuretic, and tonic.

Parts used
Grain, seeds.

Uses
Folkloric
Decocrtion of grain used for scrofula.
Decoction of grain, with powdered pepper added, is gven for diarrhea.
Powder of seeds applied to the skin to check cold sweats.
Decoction of grain given to women during parturition to promote discharge of the lochia.
Also used in leucorrhea and a variety of menstrual derangements.

Studies
• Cytotoxic / Antimycobacterial Studies: Study of extracts of roots yielded 8 new prenylated flavonoids, five known flavonoids and one lignan. The compounds were evaluated against small-cell lung and oral epidermal carcinoma human cell lines as well as antimycobacterial activity against M. tuberculosis H37Ra. Compound 1,2, 9 showed inhibitory activity against NCI-H187; compound 9 was most active against the KB

Availability
Wild-crafted.

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(1)
Cytotoxic and antimycobacterial prenylated flavonoids from the roots of Eriosema chinense / Sutthivaiyakit S, Thongnak O, Lhinhatrakool T et al / J Nat Prod. 2009 Jun;72(6):1092-6.
(2)
Taxonomic Notes on the Chinese Eriosema (Leguminosae) / S A Ren / Acta Botanica Yunnanica, 2005, 27(4), 375-377.