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Botany
Alagasi is an erect shrub
or small tree, reaching a height of 2 to 4 meters. Leaves are papery, oblong
or ovate, 10 to 15 cm long, 3 to 5 cm wide, felty and harsh to touch,
gray or chalkly white beneath and green on the other side; pointed
at the apex, abruptly and broadly rounded, and 3-nerved at the base. Flowers
are capitate, on 8 mm peduncles, either single or few-clustered, 1 cm in
diameter. Male flowers are white, upon short pedicles. Fruiting
heads are dark green, nearly spherical, with compressed achenes.
Distribution
- In thickets and
second-growth forests at low and medium altitudes throughout the Philippines.
- Also occurs from Taiwan to Java and New Guinea.
Parts
used
Roots
 Uses
Nutrition
• High Magnesium Content: Teh Kampung
(Leucosyke capitellata) leaves are particularly high in magnesium (626
mg/100 g).
Folkloric
Decoction of roots used
for phthisis, coughs, headache and gastralgia.
In Malaysia, decoction
of leaves used for diabetes, high blood pressure and lumbago.
Others
• Fiber: Bark used for its strong
bast fibers in making ropes.
In the Quezon area.
• Scouring: Leaves, with its one-sided roughness, used for
scouring pots and pans.
Availability
Wild-crafted.
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