Eclipta prostrata (L.) L. (= Eclipta alba (L.) Hassk)

DeFilipps, Robert A. & Krupnick, Gary A., 2018, The medicinal plants of Myanmar, PhytoKeys 102, pp. 1-341 : 26-27

Eclipta prostrata (L.) L. (= Eclipta alba (L.) Hassk)

Names.

Myanmar: kyate-hman, kyeik-hman. English: eclipta, false daisy, white eclipta, white heads, swamp daisy, yerba de tago.

Range.

North America (where flowers nearly year round, mostly summer to fall); Mexico; West Indies; Central America; South America; introduced in Asia, Africa, Pacific Islands, Australia, and Europe. Found growing naturally throughout Myanmar, rampantly like a weed in areas with much rain.

Conservation status.

Least Concern [LC] ( IUCN 2017).

Uses.

Promotes vitality, health, and circulation; stimulates strong hair growth; used for respiratory illnesses, as well as for inflammation of eyes and other parts of the body. Whole plant: Used for asthma. Juice used as a tonic; in medicines for coughs, headaches, hepatitis, and inflammation of joint; in a poultice for skin disorders and sores; and as a black hair dye. Mixed with honey, the juice is given to children for coughs and colds. Leaf: Powder used to treat headaches, frontal baldness, boils and cysts, and venereal diseases. They are boiled with jaggery added to water, are reduced to one-third of the starting volume and taken to regulate menstrual periods. A mixture of the pulverized leaves and juice from Vitex trifolia is used to promote burn healing, prevent new scar tissue formation, and eliminate old scar tissue; mixed with milk they are consumed daily to improve vision and, it is said, to allow mute people to gain their voices, cause deaf people to hear, and stabilize shaky teeth; mixed with mother’s milk, they are given for intestinal worms, diarrhea, smallpox, chickenpox, and measles. A mixture of leaves with pulverized black sesame seeds is taken as a tonic to protect against diseases, promote longevity, and darken hair. Leaves crushed together with those from Acalypha indica and Gardenia resinifera are applied to the head to relieve congestion in children.

Notes.

The medicinal uses of this species (syn.: E. prostata ) in India are discussed in Jain and DeFilipps (1991). Medicinal uses of this species in China are discussed in Duke and Ayensu (1985).

References.

Nordal (1963), Agricultural Corporation (1980), Forest Department (1999).