Part 11

Habitat.--Common in Luzon, Panay, Mindanao and other islands. Blooms in September.

Urena sinuata, L. (U. morifolia and muricata, DC.; U. multifida, Blanco.)

Nom. Vulg.--Kulutan, Kulutkulutan, Molopolo, Tag., Vis., Pam.

Uses.--The infusion of the root is used internally as an emollient and refrigerant; externally in skin diseases accompanied by smarting and inflammation. The boiled and pounded leaves are used as a poultice in inflammation of the intestines and bladder.

Botanical Description.--A spreading plant 4-6° high, with straight stem, leaves cleft at the base, serrate and hairy; the larger ones have 5-6 lobules which subdivide into smaller ones and bear a small gland in the inferior surface of the midrib. Petioles short. Flowers terminal and racemose. Calyx double, composed of 5 narrow sepals externally, and 5 colored sepals internally alternating with the outer ones. Corolla, 5 petals. Stamens numerous, inserted about a small column. Styles 10, on the end of the column. Stigmas thick, covered with little spheres. Five united carpels, kidney-shaped, bristling with short stiff hairs, containing solitary seeds.

Habitat.--Common in all parts of the Archipelago.

Hibiscus Abelmoschus, L.

Nom. Vulg.--Kastuli, Kastio, Kastiogan, Dalupan, Tag.; Marikum, Dukum, Marukum, Marapoto, Vis.; Marsh Mallow, Eng.

Uses.--The bruised seeds emit an odor of musk, and for this reason the plant has received the name Kastuli, signifying musk in Sanscrit. They possess antispasmodic and stimulant properties, and the infusion is diuretic. Bonastre analyzed Kastuli seeds as follows:

Water and parenchyma 52.00 Gum 36.00 Albumin 5.60 Fixed oil, resin, crystals and odorous principles 6.40 ------ Total 100.00

The fixed oil is greenish-yellow, fluid, but gradually solidifying in the air. The crystalline material is white, of an agreeable odor, soluble in ether, where it crystallizes in rays, fusible at 35°. The odorous principle is a bright green, non-volatile liquid of the odor of musk.

Botanical Description.--A plant 5-6° high, the stem hairy and with few branches. Leaves heart-shaped, cleft at the base, with 5 large pointed lobes, serrate, pubescent. Petioles long with two awl-shaped stipules at the base, and a large violet spot in the axil. Calyx double; the outer sepals 8-9 in number, awl-shaped; the inner ones are larger and separate unequally when the flower expands. Both sets are deciduous. Corolla very large, yellow. Stamens very numerous, inserted around a column. One pistil. Five stigmas. Ovary very large, downy, ovoid, 5-angled, with 5 compartments, each containing many kidney-shaped seeds with numerous grooves concentric at the hilum.

Habitat.--Common in all parts of the islands.

Hibiscus tiliaceus, L.

Nom. Vulg.--Balibago, Tag., Pam.; Malabago, Vis.

Uses.--An infusion of the leaves is used as a wash for ulcers and indolent sores. The flowers boiled in milk are used to relieve the pain of earache (Blanco), the warm milk being dropped into the external canal. The powdered bark in dose of 3 grams is emetic(?) (Blanco).

Botanical Description.--A small tree 6-12° high with leaves 4-6' long, alternate, 7-nerved, cleft at the base, abruptly acute, scalloped, pubescent. Petioles long. Flowers axillary, in panicles of very small flowerets. Calyx double, the outer portion divided into 8-9 teeth, the inner into 5 longer parts. Stamens numerous, inserted about a column. Style 1. Stigmas 5. Ovary of 5 cells, each containing 2 seeds.

Habitat.--Abounds in all parts of the islands.

Hibiscus Rosa-Sinensis, L.

Nom. Vulg.--Takurangan, Aronganan, Kayanga, Tapulanga, Gumamila, Tag., Vis., Pam.; Rose of China, Eng.

Uses.--The flowers are emollient and are widely used by the Filipinos as a domestic remedy; they are bruised and applied to boils, tumors and all sorts of inflammations. The decoction is much used internally in bronchial catarrh for its sudorific effect.

The Chinese use the trunk bark as an emmenagogue, calling it Fu-yong-pi.

Botanical Description.--A small tree about 7° high commonly called Gumamela in Manila; the leaves are ovate, acute, with about 5 nerves, serrate from the middle to the apex, hairs growing sparsely on both surfaces, with a small group of dark-colored, deciduous hairs growing on the lower part of the midrib. Petioles short with 2 stipules at the base. Calyx double, the outer part divided almost to the base into 6-8 parts; the inner cylindrical, divided in 5. Corolla large, splendid scarlet-red, often double, on slender peduncles. Styles numerous. Fruit identical with that of the Hibiscus tiliaceus.

Habitat.--Universally common in the Philippines.

Thespesia populnea, Corr.

Nom. Vulg.--Babuy or Bobuy gubat, Tag.; Bulakan, Vis.

Uses.--The fruit yields a yellow juice which is used locally in the itch and other cutaneous troubles, after first washing the affected part with a decoction of the roots and leaves. The bark is astringent and is used as a decoction in the treatment of dysentery and hemorrhoids.

Botanical Description.--A tree of the second order with leaves 4-5' long, sparse, 5-nerved, heart-shaped, broad, acute, entire, glabrous, 6 small glands on the lower face of the base. Petioles of equal length with the leaves. Flowers large, axillary, solitary. Calyx double, the outer portion deciduous, consisting of 3 small, acute leaflets inserted on the base of the inner calyx; the inner is bell-shaped, larger than the outer, with 5 inconspicuous, persistent teeth. Corolla four times longer than the calyx, of 5 fleshy, fluted petals, their borders overlapping, much broader above. Stamens very numerous, arranged around and along a column. Filaments long. Anthers of half-moon shape. Style 1, very thick. Stigma cleft in 5 parts, which are twisted in spiral form. Seed vessels about the size of a filbert, 5-sided, with 5 apartments each containing 5 ovoid seeds attached by separate seed stalks to the central axis of the ovary. Seeds not woolly.