Hygrophila auriculata (Schumach.) Heine (= Asteracantha longifolia Nees; Hygrophila spinosa T. Anderson)

DeFilipps, Robert A. & Krupnick, Gary A., 2018, The medicinal plants of Myanmar, PhytoKeys 102, pp. 1-341 : 3

Hygrophila auriculata (Schumach.) Heine (= Asteracantha longifolia Nees; Hygrophila spinosa T. Anderson)

Names.

Myanmar: le-padu, su-padang. English: hygrophila.

Range.

Wet places in Indo-China, Myanmar, Bangla Desh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan Punjab, and Tropical Africa. In Myanmar, found in Bago.

Conservation status.

Least Concern [LC] ( IUCN 2017).

Uses.

Leaf: Used in treating jaundice. Leaf, Root, Seed: Used as expectorant, and diuretic in dropsy. Root: Used to treat rheumatism. Seed: Employed as an aphrodisiac.

Notes.

The medicinal uses of this species in India are discussed in Jain and DeFilipps (1991) as follows: The whole plant is used for malarial fever; the leaf and seed as a diuretic, for jaundice, cough, dropsy, rheumatism, and urogenital diseases; the seed as an aphrodisiac; and the bulb for tubercular fistula, sores, skin cancer, dropsy, and swelling of the face and body. Primarily the leaves are used for poulticing fresh wounds, sprained limbs, swellings, abscesses, boils, and headaches ( Perry 1980).

Reported constituents in species belonging to this genus include an alkaloid; various enzymes; and linoleic, oleic, and ricinoleic acids ( Perry 1980).

References.

Nordal (1963), Perry (1980).