Botany
Salasik-lupa is a spreading, diffuse, branched herb, with branches 15 to 45 cm long. Leaves are stalkless, rough, rigid, slender, elliptic- or linear-lanceolate, 3.5 to 6 cm long, 2 to 5 mm wide, and pointed at both ends. Flowers are borne in clusters in the axils of the leaves. Calyx-teeth are triangular. Capsules are smooth, ovoid, and 2.5 to 3 mm long.
Distribution
In open places, old clearings, and thickets at low altitudes, from northern Luzon to Mindanao, in most islands and provinces.
Also occurs in India to southern China and Malaya.
Uses
Folkloric
Plant used for making poultices; applied for headaches; in small children applied to abdomen for stomachaches.
Decoction of plants drunk for dysentery.
Studies
• Antioxidant / NO Inhibitory Activity: In a study of the methanol extracts of seven Malaysian medicinal plants, including Hedyotis verticillata, all showed strong antioxidant activity comparable to or higher than a-tocopheraol, BHT and quercetin in the FTC and TBA methods. In one assay, H verticillata was one of five that showed strong NO activity inhibition in LPA and IFN-g-induced RAW 264.
Availability
Wild-crafted.
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