Botany
Sabilau is a succulent, slender, prostrate, somewhat branched, smooth herb. Stems are about 5 mm thick, 20 to 40 cm long, rooting at the nodes. Leaves are sessile, lanceolate, 4 to 11 cm long, 6 to 12 mm wide. Flowers are 3-6 in each leaf-axil, opening one at a time, with small bracteoles, non-imbricated. Calyx is pale-greenish. Corolla is bluish or purplish, with long-clawed petals; the limb 5 to 6 mm long. Capsule is long-beaked. Seeds are oblong, compressed or ventrally concave, brown, shining and shallowly pitted.

Distribution
In clearings, open places along streams, rice paddies, etc, at low and medium altitudes.

Constituents
Sterols.

Parts used
Whole plant.

Uses
Folkloric
In the Malabar Coast, used as a remedy for tympanitis.
External applications used in ascites and abscesses.
Decoction of whole plant used in swellings above the abdomen.
In India, roots and tubers used for fever and worms.

Availability
Wild-crafted.

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(1)
A Survey of Ethnomedicinal Plants used by the tribals of Ajoydha Hill Region, Purulia District, India / Abhijit Dey and Dr Jitendra Nath De / American-Eurasian Journal of Sustainable Agriculture, 4(3): 280-290, 2010