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Family Asteraceae
Dichrocephala integrifolia
Dichrocephala latifolia (Lam.) DC.

Scientific names Common names
Dichrocephala latifolia (Lam.) DC. No local name
Grangea latifolia Lam. ex Poir.  
Dichrocephala bicolor (Roth.) Schtdl.  
Dichrocephala integrifolia (L.f.) O. Kuntze  

Other vernacular names
INDONESIA: Jukut meurit (Sundanese), wedahan, seprah (Javanese).
CAMBODIA: Klet choum thorn, kombet choun.
CAMEROON: Mbag'api.
ITALIAN: Dicrocefala.
LAOS: Cho ke.
MADAGASCAR: Ahidrindrina.
THAILAND: Phakchee doi, saap haeng, haeng khong.
VIETNAM: Rau chu[oo]i, l[uw][owx]ng s[ows]c l[as] nguy[ee]n.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Taka, de­kemp, dakuma­dan .

Botany
Dichrocephala latifolia is an annual, erect or spreading, smooth or hairy weed, 30 to 60 centimeters in height. Leaves are entire or pinnatifid, ovate or lanceolate, up to 10.5 centimeters long and 4 centimeters wide; the terminal lobe is large, broadly ovate and coarsely toothed. Flowering heads are yellow or purplish, rounded, and about 3 millimeters in diameter. The ray flowers are very slender, curved, and obscurely toothed. Achenes are very minute and smooth.

Distribution
- In open, waste places, old clearings, along trails, etc., chiefly at 900 meters and up to 2,200 meters in Bontoc, Ifugao, Benguet Subprovinces; and Nueva Vizcaya and Quezon Provinces in Luzon; and in Mindoro, Negros, and Mindanao.
- Also occurs in tropical and subtropical Africa, in Asia, and through Malaya.

Constituents
- Study yielded six compounds were obtained and identified as stearic acid, stigmasta-7,22-dien-3-ol, α-amyrin, epifriedelanol, methyl stearate, and tritetracontane. (1)

Properties
- Considered analgesic, anesthetic, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, diuretic, sudorific, vulnerary.

Parts used
Flower buds, young shoots.

Uses

Folkloric
- Decoction of flower buds used as sudorific and diuretic.
- In Cambodia, young shoots used as poultice for treating blenorrhagia and insect stings.

- In Cameroon, fresh leaves and stems used as anesthetic in atraumatic tooth extraction. It is placed on the fractured, painful, or carious teeth for two to three minutes, causing it to become loose, and then pulled. Plant is reapplied to the extraction site to enhance clotting and arrest bleeding.
- Paste of whole plant used as antidote for Russell viper bite.
Others
- Livestock: In Cameroon used to treat cattle for swelling, infection, necrosis, edema, and pain.

Studies
Antibacterial:
Study evaluated the antibacterial activity of leaf extracts. Results showed chloroform extracts to be the most effective. S. typhi was found most sensitive and P. aeruginosa the most resistant to all extracts used. (3)
Anticancer:
Dichrocephala integrifolia was one of 12 Yemeni herbs that showed inhibitory effect against three human cancer cell lines. (5)
Anthelmintic:
Study evaluated the ovicidal and larvicidal activities of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of leaves of Dichrocephala integrifolia against eggs, first and second larval stages of Heligmosomoides bakeri. Results showed ethanolic extracts contained compounds with ovicidal and larvicidal properties. (6)

Availability
Wild-crafted.


Last Update July 2014

IMAGE SOURCE: / Illustration / Dichrocephala integrifolia (L.f.) Kuntze [as Dichrocephala latifolia (Lam.) L'Hérit. ex DC.] Wight, R., Icones Plantarum Indiae Orientalis, vol. 3: t. 1096 (1846) / PlantIllustrations.org
OTHER IMAGE SOURCE: Dichrocephala integrifolia / Credit: Photo by Graziano Favaro - Masera' di Padova / alterVISTA

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(1)
Study on the Chemical Constituents of Dichrocephala integrifolia / Zhu Shao-hui, Zhang Qian-jun et al / DOI CNKI:SUN:ZYCA.0.2010-01-019
(2)
Dichrocephala integrifolia (L.f.) O. Kuntze / Vernacular names / GLOBinMED
(3)
Preliminary phytochemical screening and evaluation of antibacterial activity of Dichrocepala integrifolia (L.f) O. kuntze / Tesfaye Mohammed, Chalachew Teshale. / J Intercult Ethnopharmacol. 2012; 1(1): 30-34doi: 10.5455/jice.20120401054654
(4)
The role of traditional healers in tooth extractions in Lekie Division, Cameroon. / Ashu M Agbor, Sudeshni Naidoo, and Awono M Mbia / J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. 2011; 7: 15. / doi: 10.1186/1746-4269-7-15
(5)
Evaluation of the in vitro anticancer, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of some Yemeni plants used in folk medicine. / Mothana RA, Gruenert R, Bednarski PJ, Lindequist U. / Pharmazie. 2009 Apr;64(4):260-8.
(6)
In vitro anthelminthic efficacy of Dichrocephala integrifolia (Asteraceae) extracts on the gastro-intestinal nematode parasite of mice: Heligmosomoides bakeri (Nematoda, Heligmosomatidae) / Poné J Wabo,* V K Payne, Tayo Gertrude Mbogning, Marie Claire Komtangi, Jeannette Yondo, Alidou M Ngangout, Mbida Mpoame, and Bilong CF Bilong / Asian Pac J Trop Biomed. Feb 2013; 3(2): 100–104. / doi: 10.1016/S2221-1691(13)60032-5
(7)
Profile of Medicinal Plants with Anti-Ophidian Property / Sandeep V. Binorkar, Dilip K Jani / Journal of Pharmaceutical and Scientific Innovation


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