Difference between revisions of "Chinese Honeysuckle (Niyog-niyogan)"

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==News About Chinese Honeysuckle (Niyog-niyogan)==
==News About Chinese Honeysuckle (Niyog-niyogan)==
'''Health Benefits of Niyog Niyogan'''
*Source:http://herbsmeds.blogspot.com/2016/01/health-benefits-of-niyog-niyogan.html
:(All About Diabetes)
Also known as Chinese honeysuckle, Rangoon Creeper and Quiscual, Niyog-niyogan is a large climbing, woody shrub that is native in Southeast Asian countries including the Philippines that grows up to 20 feet with rounded leaves and fragrant and colorful flowers of white, red, reddish purple, pink red to orange. It also has an edible fruit with black seeds.
Niyog-niyogan is a popular medicinal herb in the Philippines for its deworming properties. Its seeds are dried and taken orally to expel Intestinal Worms and Parasites. However, it also causes adverse reactions such as diarrhea, abdominal pain, distension and hiccups especially if the seeds are eaten consecutively.
Aside from this, Niyog-niyogan fruits help ease nephritis or inflammation of the kidneys. It is boiled and applied externally to treat skin ulcers and boils. Its leaves are applied to the head to help relieve headaches. Its fruits can be roasted and eaten for treating diarrhea and fever. It can also be made into tea to relieving dysuria or pain while urinating. Lately, Niyog-niyogan is also believed to help suppress the growth of tumor or anticancer. Decoctions of its roots are also to relieve rheumatism while its fruits are used to relieve toothaches. Other uses of niyog-niyogan which are still under study included its antioxidant properties, Anti-Acetylcholinesterase inhibition, Larvicidal Activity, antipyretic activity, Anti-Inflammatory, Immunomodulatory and Analgesic / Anticonvulsant properties.
----
'''The greenskeeper: The odd Rangoon creeper'''
'''The greenskeeper: The odd Rangoon creeper'''
*Source:http://www.bangaloremirror.com/columns/you/The-greenskeeper-The-odd-Rangoon-creeper/articleshow/47406987.cms
*Source:http://www.bangaloremirror.com/columns/you/The-greenskeeper-The-odd-Rangoon-creeper/articleshow/47406987.cms

Revision as of 04:54, 18 July 2016

Herbal Remedies and Medicinal Cures for Diseases, Ailments & Illnesses that afflict Humans and Animals
Aloe Vera Astragalus Bankoro Bilberry Bitter Gourd (Ampalaya) Bitter Orange Black Cohosh Cat's Claw Chamomile Chasteberry Coconut Cranberry Dandelion Echinacea Ephedra European Elder Tree Evening Primrose Fenugreek Feverfew Flaxseed Garlic Ginger Ginkgo Ginseng (Asian) Golden Seal Grape Seed Green Tea Hawthorn Hoodia Horse Chestnut Kava Lavender Licorice Malunggay Moringa Oleifera Milk Thistle Mistletoe Passion Flower Peppermint Oil Red Clover Ringworm Bush (Akapulko) – Cassia alata Saw Palmetto St. John's Wort Tawa Tawa Turmeric Valerian Yohimbe
accept the bitter to get better


Description

The Rangoon creeper is a ligneous vine that can reach from 2.5 meters to up to 8 meters. The leaves are elliptical with an acuminate tip and a rounded base. They grow from 7 to 15 centimeters and their arrangement is opposite. The flowers are fragrant and tubular and their color varies from white to pink to red. The 30 to 35 mm long fruit is ellipsoidal and has five prominent wings. The fruit tastes like almonds when mature. The niyog-niyogan is usually dispersed by water.

Rangoon creeper is found in thickets or secondary forests of the Philippines, India and Malaysia. It has since been cultivated and naturalized in tropical areas.

source of article: wikipedia

Chinese Honeysuckle (Niyog-niyogan) - Quisqualis indica

Niog-niogan is a perennial climbing shrub growing to about 2.5-8 meters at maturity. It has egg-shaped leaves, aromatic flowers that may come in white to purple orange in color. The oval-shaped fruit can reach 30-35 mm long when ripe. For medicinal purposes leaves, seeds and roots are used.

Medicinal Uses:

  • Dried seeds, when eaten, act as deworming agents.
  • Roasted seeds help control diarrhea and fever.
  • Boiled leaves used to check difficulty in urinating
  • Fruit decoction of fruit, taken as mouthwash, is effective against nephritis.
  • Juice made from leaves are used in the treatment of ulcers, boils, and fever-induced headache.
  • Decoctions of roots aids in reducing pain due to rheumatism.
  • Pounded leaves are used externally for skin diseases.
Herbal remedies in zamboanga.PNG

News About Chinese Honeysuckle (Niyog-niyogan)

Health Benefits of Niyog Niyogan

(All About Diabetes)

Also known as Chinese honeysuckle, Rangoon Creeper and Quiscual, Niyog-niyogan is a large climbing, woody shrub that is native in Southeast Asian countries including the Philippines that grows up to 20 feet with rounded leaves and fragrant and colorful flowers of white, red, reddish purple, pink red to orange. It also has an edible fruit with black seeds.

Niyog-niyogan is a popular medicinal herb in the Philippines for its deworming properties. Its seeds are dried and taken orally to expel Intestinal Worms and Parasites. However, it also causes adverse reactions such as diarrhea, abdominal pain, distension and hiccups especially if the seeds are eaten consecutively.

Aside from this, Niyog-niyogan fruits help ease nephritis or inflammation of the kidneys. It is boiled and applied externally to treat skin ulcers and boils. Its leaves are applied to the head to help relieve headaches. Its fruits can be roasted and eaten for treating diarrhea and fever. It can also be made into tea to relieving dysuria or pain while urinating. Lately, Niyog-niyogan is also believed to help suppress the growth of tumor or anticancer. Decoctions of its roots are also to relieve rheumatism while its fruits are used to relieve toothaches. Other uses of niyog-niyogan which are still under study included its antioxidant properties, Anti-Acetylcholinesterase inhibition, Larvicidal Activity, antipyretic activity, Anti-Inflammatory, Immunomodulatory and Analgesic / Anticonvulsant properties.


The greenskeeper: The odd Rangoon creeper

By Sriram Aravamudan (Bangalore Mirror Bureau)

It really is a bizarre houseplant. It starts off as a cute little leafy creeper that rapidly becomes coarse and bush-like. It then sends out little shoots that take the support of anything around it, and climbs up to form a towering creeper. This strange creeper-shrub-tree behaviour baffled early European plant collectors, who gave it the name Quisqualis (meaning 'Who? What?' in Latin). The plant was first documented in the 17th century by a Dutch trader, Georg EberhardRumphius in present-day Myanmar, though the plant has been flourishing all over South Asia for centuries.

Known as MadhuMalati, RadhaManoharam and Rangoon Mallige around India, this vine is a ubiquitous summer presence. The heady fragrance of its pink, red and white blooms, borne in bunches all over its massive spread, has captivated the imaginations of poets and artists alike. In Chinese medicine, the seeds and roots of the plant are boiled and used as an anti-parasitic and to combat nephritis.

Rangoon creepers grow pretty much anywhere, needing very little tending to. They are perfect to cover ugly fences, rooftops, gateposts and pergolas. The enormous Rangoon creeper covering the breezy verandah of my grandparents' home in Chennai was home to a host of little birds, squirrels and garden critters that used to keep us entertained for days on end. Even more amazing was the tiny little gap near the wall that the giant creeper grew out of, almost like magic!

Want to grow this beautiful creeper at home? Well, why not! All you need is a good healthy twig from an existing creeper. Most city nurseries have saplings in stock as well. Plant the creeper out where it can get at least four hours of sun every day, and can take the support of something to grow and spread. Remember that the best aspect of a Rangoon creeper is from the top, where most of its leaves and blooms appear; the bottom tends to look leggy and thorny over time. So plant your creeper where its crown can be displayed to its best advantage. Ideal spots for Rangoons are along compound walls, or sides of houses. Large pots are okay too, but will eventually restrict the growth of the creeper.

As your sapling grows, it will start turning woody. Water it twice a week or so for a couple of years until it can sustain itself. You can then decide if you want to prune it into a large bush, or train it up onto your roof or fence using a rope or twine. After a while, the plant will learn to use the support of its older stems to send new shoots up. Rangoons enjoy growing wild and free, so don't go overboard with the pruning and training. Fertilize your plant every six months with leafy compost or rich garden soil, and keep an eye out for parasitic plants like dodder, that love to latch on to Rangoons for their nutrition.

So go plant yourself a Rangoon creeper today!


Growing Rangoon Creepers in your Garden

(Admin, landscapingemag.com)

Some want a low-maintenance but beautiful plant for their garden, to suit their busy lifestyles. Rashmi Srinivas, a garden enthusiast from Bangalore introduces Rangoon creepers which seems to able to grow anywhere with relatively no help!

Though it is a hedge plant that grows in the west coast of India, where I hail from, it has suddenly acquired the status of an ornamental creeper in the metropolitan cities like Bangalore.These flowers were my childhood fascination. Unlike Jasmine, they could be made into garlands by using their own tubular portions, without using thread.

The Rangoon creeper, also known as the Chinese honeysuckle, is a sturdy, vigorously growing, profusely flowering, perennial climber that does not need any maintenance. In Kannada, it is known as Akash Mallige. Its Sanskrit name is Madhu Malati. In Konkani, it is called Mumbai Mogri. Botanically, it is known as Quisqualis Indica/ Qusiqualis densiflora/ Combretum Indicum. Quisqualis in Latin means, ‘What is that?’

Tender plants are reddish in color. As they grow, the normal green colour appears. In a mature creeper, the stem becomes woody and thorns appear. Once established, it hardly dies. If it gets proper sunlight and enough water, it flowers profusely in big bunches of 15-30 tubular fragrant flowers in shades of white, pink and red. As soon as the flower blooms in the evening, it is white in colour. The next morning, it acquires a light pink colour and by evening, it turns into dark reddish pink. Since four-five flowers in the bunch bloom every day, it is spectacular scene with tri-colored flowers in the same bunch any day. The drooping bunches give additional beauty to the creeper.

Years ago, when my mother gave me two saplings of this creeper, the house I was living had very little gardening space. The little space I had was already occupied by Orange trumpet creeper, Money Plant, Caesalpinia , etc. I had no other option but to plant the creepers adjacent to my compound wall, literally on the road near the left entrance gate of my house.

At the time, ours was still a mud road and the soil was hard , mixed with lot of pebbles and construction waste like cement and sand.

I covered the plants with thorny dry weeds from the vacant site nearby, to protect them from the grazing cattle and sheep, naughty children from the slum in the neighbourhood and also from scorching hot sun. Since I was still employed and with two little children to take care of , all that I could do for these plants was to water them regularly by somewhat squeezing in time for that.

Determined to Climb

To my surprise, one of the plants survived and grew vigorously with support of the grill which bordered the staircase at the entrance leading to the first floor of my house where I lived. In due course, with proper support provided, it reached the balcony at the second floor and the terrace at the third floor all the while flowering profusely. Numerous bunches of drooping fragrant flowers made a spectacular scene. Bees and butterflies are attracted to these flowers. The sweet fruity smell of the flowers and the partial blind created by the profuse growth of the creeper on the front face of the balcony, gave us an idyllic setting to spend half hour of every evening.

Though the fruits or the seeds were not visible, numerous small seedlings appeared on the ground.

These were given to our friends. Since the stem becomes hardy, the growth of the creeper must be planned in advance and proper support is to be provided.

One year, I achieved five horizontal and five vertical lines of this profusely flowering climber. Had I provided more support, the plant would have continued to grow higher. In due time, the road was asphalted and gutters were made. There was hardly any space between the gutter and my compound. I thought that it was the end of the story for my creeper.

But it survived the crisis and grew in whatever little space there was in the gap and reached the same height. I once saw a parent showing the beautiful flowers on the terrace to his child while pointing out its origin in the tiny little gap at the ground near the compound.

Maintenance Tips

In my house, it bloomed twice every year, once from February to May and again from August to November. Rarely, a fruit may be seen.

This plant is used in traditional medicine in India and Pakistan. Though relatively pest-free , in summer, white flies infect it. With proper spray of insecticide, this can be kept in control.

It is an excellent choice to cover the compound wall, pillar, or make virtual partition, etc in India. I no longer live in that house and the gutter is now covered with stone slabs and suitably cemented.

My tenant is least interested in gardening. Yet, during my recent visit to the place, the scene of the creeper emerging out of the cemented slabs, reminded me of my mother who is no more.


Honeysuckle tea could fight flu

(Agencies)

Boiling honeysuckle releases molecule which can help fight influenza virus, study suggests

Drinking honeysuckle tea could help ward off flu, according to a study.

When boiled and drunk the Chinese herb helped suppress the effects of the influenza virus in mice, effectively acting as a "virological penicillin”.

Honeysuckle tea has been drunk for centuries in China to help fight flu, but the study provides the first scientific evidence to support the tradition, researchers said.

Trials showed that it could be effective against several variants of flu which have caused major public health scares in recent years, including H1N1 “Spanish Flu” and H5N1 avian flu.

The team from Nanjing University found that after drinking a “soup” of honeysuckle, mice absorbed a molecule from the plant known as MIR 2911 into their bloodstream and lung tissue.

The molecule was shown to suppress various types of flu virus by blocking two genes which are used by the influenza virus to replicate itself.

Results published in the Cell Research journal showed that it helped reduce death in mice from H5N1 flu and help prevent infection with other flu types including H1N1.

The scientists said their experiment was the first to show that a natural product can directly target a virus, although it has not yet been proven to be effective in humans.

“Since Fleming discovered penicillin nearly a century ago, antibiotics have been developed to target various bacterial infections and have saved the lives of millions of people,” the university said in a statement.”

“For [one] thousand years, Chinese have been drinking honeysuckle decoction to treat influenza viral infections and the results show that honeysuckle decoction has a broad-spectrum antiviral activity.”



Quisqualis Indica Care – Information About Rangoon Creeper Vine

By Amy Grant

Amongst the lush foliage of the world’s tropical forests one will find a predominance of lianas or vine species. One of these creepers is the Quisqualis rangoon creeper plant. Also known as Akar Dani, Drunken Sailor, Irangan Malli, and Udani, this 12-foot long vine is an aggressively fast grower which spreads rapidly with its root suckers.

The Latin name for rangoon creeper plant is Quisqualis indica. The genus name ‘Quisqualis’ means “what is this” and for good reason. Rangoon creeper plant has a form more closely resembling that of a shrub as a young plant, which gradually matures into a vine. This dichotomy flummoxed early taxonomists who eventually gave it this questionable nomenclature.

What is Rangoon Creeper?

Rangoon creeper vine is a woody climbing liana with green to yellow-green lance shaped leaves. The stems have fine yellow hairs with occasional spines forming on the branches. Rangoon creeper blooms white at onset and gradually darkens to pink, then finally red as it reaches maturity.

Flowering in the spring through summer, the 4- to 5-inch star-shaped aromatic blossoms are clustered together. The fragrance of the blooms is most striking at night. Rarely does the Quisqualis fruit; however, when fruiting does occur, it first appears as red in color gradually drying and maturing into a brown, five winged drupe.

This creeper, like all lianas, attaches itself to trees in the wild and creeps upwards through the canopy in search of the sun. In the home garden, Quiqualis can be used as an ornamental over arbors or gazebos, on trellises, in a tall border, over a pergola, espaliered, or trained as a specimen plant in a container. With some supportive structure, the plant will arch and form large masses of foliage.

Quisqualis Indica Care

Rangoon creeper is cold hardy only in the tropics and in USDA zones 10 and 11 and will defoliate with the lightest of frosts. In USDA zone 9, the plant will likely lose its foliage too; however, the roots are still viable and the plant will return as an herbaceous perennial.

Quisqualis indica care requires full sun to partial shade. This creeper survives in a variety of soil conditions provided they are well draining and is pH adaptable. Regular watering and full sun with afternoon shade will keep this liana thriving.

Avoid fertilizers that are high in nitrogen; they will only encourage foliage growth and not flower set. In regions where the plant experiences dieback, flowering will be less spectacular than in tropical climes.

The vine may occasionally be plagued by scale and caterpillars.

The vine can be propagated from cuttings.


This fruitful jungle is full of rare plants

BY MONICA BRANDIES (Special Correspondent)

I love to visit Ed Musgrave’s garden because it’s even more of a jungle than mine, partly because he has one and a half acres, which is three times the size of my garden. He also has much more experience and knowledge about fruit and rare plants.

Ed’s been growing orchids for 60 years, but he has a new one he can’t identity. He thought I might know what it is. I hate to have to say I don’t know, but it still happens. We’re hoping someone will see the photo and have a name and perhaps some information.

In the meantime, Ed has mounted it on block of wood, all he could find at the time. He floats the wood in water and that’s enough moisture for the plant and he’ll spray it with a fertilizer solution as needed.

We’re both long-term members of the Rare Fruit Council International, which meets at the Tampa Garden Club, 2629 Bayshore Blvd., Tampa, at 2 p.m. the second Sunday of most months.

He and his late and dear wife, Althea, were members of several plant societies, but his gardening is a bit lonesome in the years since she’s been gone. He enjoys showing people around his place and tells great stories about each plant.

Like most plantaholics, he never passes up a seed – or a sad, neglected plant that he doesn’t bring home, doctor and make thrive. Then he multiplies it and gives away the new plants to others.

Within the past year he’s had 21 different kinds of fruiting plants from which to pick and eat, not counting the ones that aren’t old enough to set fruit yet. He has a lychee that’s normal size and an Emperor lychee that produces fewer fruits, but they’re much larger – big enough to fill his whole hand.

Ed has star fruits that are yellow, white, some the usual size and some that grow up to 10-inches long. One variety tastes almost like an apple.

One of his fig trees, still in a large container, had 60 some fruits last year and is starting to fruit again. They get dark and taste quite good. But he recommends Celeste as the sweetest one, even if it’s small.

Many people come to Florida and have never tasted mangoes or avocados. Most of us grow the more common fruits – bananas and plums. Pineapples have been very productive the last two years. But there are many other fruits that are delicious.

Ed is watching his few soursops and has each nearly ripe one in a bag with a wire on the stem so that when it falls, it won’t fall far enough to let any varmints eat it. It’s related to the sugar apple, cherimoya and a few other sweet treats.

And there are many other rare fruits we’re just beginning to know and enjoy.

Today’s pick is the Rangoon creeper, Quisqualis indica, a vine I planted from a nut given me by another council member years ago. I have never since seen any nuts, but the blooms are lovely. They’re white when they first open, turn pink by noon and maroon by evening. They stay on the vine for several days. Ed says they need to get at least 5 feet tall before they bloom. This may well be the reason he and my friend Nancy have plenty of flowers, and I don’t get any. I’ll quit pruning height, just width. They also need full sun most of the day. The plant does spread and has nasty thorns.

Now’s the time...to protect yourself from mosquitoes as much as possible. Dump any standing water; even a cup-full can be a breeding place for hundreds of them. Put gold fish, tadpoles or mosquito dunks in any rain barrels or bucket you use to catch rain and use the water as quickly as you can.

I will have a book and plant sale with the garden open again on July 19 from 9 to 11 a.m. at 1508 Burning Tree Lane, Brandon. All are invited. Come check out my jungle and it’ll make you feel good about your own garden.


Germination of the Rangoon Creeper

By Audrey Stallsmith (Demand Media)

Rangoon creeper's genus name, Quisqualis, means "what?" or "which?" Both are good questions for a plant that can't decide whether it is a bush or a climber. A seedling looks like a small shrub for six months or so, before sending up vines from its base. Rangoon creeper (Quisqualis indica) is also called "drunken sailor," possibly for its tendency to sprawl atop other shrubs instead of standing up properly. Its panicles of tubular and fragrant star-shaped flowers turn from white to pink to red as they age. Rangoon creeper is perennial in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 10 through 12.

1 Find fresh fruits of Rangoon creeper in late summer or fall, after the plant has finished blooming. Keep in mind that each "fruit" when mature looks something like an oblong nut, with a shell that should be about 1 to 1 1/2 inches long, ridge and brown.
2 Snip off the pointed tip of a shell just enough so water can penetrate it if you wish to speed germination of the kernel inside. If you would like even more rapid germination, use your fingers to peel off the rest of the somewhat brittle shell, being careful not to damage the kernel.
3 Soak the fruits or extracted kernels in a covered container of lukewarm water overnight. Fill seedling pots with a mixture of half seed sowing mix and half sand. Plant one fruit or kernel in each pot one inch deep.
4 Cover the pots with plastic wrap to keep the mix damp. (Place them on a seed-starting heat mat if necessary to provide temperatures in the upper 70s or low 80s Fahrenheit.) Continue to water as necessary to keep the mix consistently moist but not soggy. Watch for sprouts in as little as five days for completely shelled kernels or in as long as six to 12 weeks for those still encased in their fruits.

Things You Will Need

• Rangoon creeper fruits
• Covered container
• Seedling pots
• Seed sowing mix
• Sand
• Plastic wrap
• Seedling heat mat

Scientists Discover First ‘Virological Penicillin’

By Natali Anderson

Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) is a well-known Chinese herb. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, it has been used to effectively treat influenza infection for centuries.

Several previous studies have confirmed that the herb, usually consumed in the form of a tea, can suppress the replication of influenza virus.

However, the active anti-viral components and the mechanism by which they block viral replication have remained unclear.

Now, a team of researchers headed by Dr Chen-Yu Zhang of Nanjing University in China has identified MIR2911 (honeysuckle-encoded atypical microRNA2911) as the first active component directly targeting various influenza viruses, including the swine flu H1N1, highly pathogenic avian H5N1 and H7N9 infections.

MIR2911 represses influenza viruses by targeting PB2 and NS1, two genes that are known to be required for influenza viral replication.

With its broad-spectrum, anti-viral activity against influenza viruses, MIR2911 and MIR2911-containing honeysuckle tea may represent a new effective therapeutic strategy that can be used to subdue deadly infections.

“It is important to note that since Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin nearly a century ago, antibiotics have been developed to target various bacterial infections and have saved the lives of millions of people,” the scientists wrote in a paper published in the journal Cell Research.

“Unfortunately, no natural product that is effective against viral infection has been identified thus far.”

“We suggest that as the first natural product to directly target influenza A viruses, MIR2911 is the ‘virological penicillin’ that serves as a novel therapeutic and preventive agent against not only influenza A, but potentially also other types of viruses.”


Garden Tips: Rangoon creeper a tropical vine that puts on a colorful show

By Carol Cloud Bailey

Rangoon creeper is a tropical vine popular for its color-changing blooms and tough habit. The name of the genus, Quisqualis, is Latin for “what is this?” because early plant explorers would collect the various forms of the plant-shrubby, vine, with or without spines, varying foliage and flower colors. It must have been a frustrated taxonomist who eventually applied the quizzical name.

A large percentage, 90 percent by some accounts, of the world’s vine species are found in tropical rainforest. The seeds of lianas usually sprout on the forest floor and grow to the top of the canopy, seeking life-giving sun by twining around trees, attaching themselves to tree trunks by holdfasts or tendrils, thorns, sticky hairs and roots.

Some interesting lianas include many philodendron species, the rattan palm (yes, there are vining palms) from which we harvest rattan for furniture, Strychnos toxifera, one of the plant sources for the drug curare, Rangoon creeper and pothos.

Rangoon creeper is a large, woody, scrambling or climbing vine or liana. The leaves are arranged on stems opposite each other and are lance- to elliptically shaped ending in a point. The stems have yellow pubescence (fine hairs), mostly on the small branchlets. Sometimes spines form on the branches.

This plant will climb with support or gracefully arch to form large mounds. The leaves are variously green to yellow green.

Fragrant flowers appear on Rangoon creeper spring though summer and sometimes fall. They are grouped on loose, open spikes. Individually, the blooms have very long tubes, 4 to 5 inches and open to five-pointed, starry lobes.

The flower color is white when it first opens and darkens to pink and finally dark red as it matures. Each flower spike may exhibit all stages of the flower color at one time. The fruit is rarely produced, but is red maturing to brown, dry and five-angled or winged.

Use lianas in tall borders, large containers, to fill large open spaces, trained as a standard (tree) for a specimen plant, on trellises, arbors and gazebos. Place them carefully in the landscape; the branches of lianas will find support on any plant or structure, most are aggressive fast growers and spread readily by root suckers.


The scarlet Rangoon creeper

By V.A. SATHIYAMURTHY, K. RAJAMANI

A WIDELY known garden climber, the scarlet Rangoon creeper is a native of Africa which was introduced in the tropics as a popular ornamental. Botanically known as Quisqualis indica, the creeper can often be seen as a hedge plant or covering compound walls.

It is a luxuriant plant with opposite oblong and obvoate leaves which abruptly acuminate apically and are obtuse to basally rounded. The petioles are about six to eight millimetres long and the leaf blades 3.5 centimetres to 15 cm long and 1.5 cm to 5.5 cm wide. The flowers are short, have auxiliary and terminal drooping racemes (that are white first and then rosy and scarlet) with a narrow tube.

The fruit is oblong with sharp angles, glabrous and black, with only one seed.

The plant can be propagated through seeds and rooted cuttings, the latter being the simplest way. The seed and leaves are used in medicine.

The plant flowers between March and May and is noted for its attractive drooping and scarlet flowers. Flowering is profuse and the process emits a mildly fragrant odour, especially attractive to insects.

The plant is ideal to grow, enhancing the aesthetic appeal of buildings and gardens.


Fragrant plants delight senses

By JENNY WARD (Darwin Sun)

IF THERE is anything worthwhile growing in your garden, it is a selection of plants that give off a glorious perfume.

Not only do they pleasantly arouse the senses, but they are an asset visually when planted close enough to seated garden spots or entertainment areas nearer the house.

Gardenias are a good choice for strong perfume, a healthy shrub and an evergreen look throughout the year.

They are one of the most versatile of plants and can be used for screening, hedging or potted specimens. Once a popular flower for inserting in buttonholes on suits, this is rarely seen these days.

All citrus trees have highly perfumed flowers and all are mostly white, and you have the added bonus of picking the fruit for culinary uses or making refreshing lemon squash.

Roses are an old-fashioned favourite globally, and considered the “No. 1 flower”. Although they thrive in cool climates, many varieties grow well up here and you may be surprised just how many people grow roses in the Top End.

Scented favourites are Perfume Delight, Mr Lincoln, Friesa, Bewitched, Blue Moon, Big Purple, Fragrant Plum and Jude the Obscure.

Frangipanis are a great choice for adding fragrance in the garden and are one of the easiest plants to grow.

They will naturally form into a nice shapely tree when left alone, but can be pruned to reduce the size. Or simply cut back protruding branches over walkways.

Frangipanis will generally produce three (sometimes four) stems on each branch. Ensure they grow in well-drained soil for a healthy plant.

As a succulent, they are prone to rot when they become too wet or grow in waterlogged conditions.

Quisqualis indica, or Rangoon creeper, has been around for decades and a double flowering variety has crept into the market with the same strong fragrance, reliable blooming and visual qualities of red/pink/white flowers.

It is a beautiful vine to grow with a lingering scent, but it will require strong support to hold its heavy, rampant growth as it matures.


How Do I Get Pinworm Relief?

By Amanda Kahler

Pinworm infection is a common worm infestation not just among humans but also to animals… but the latter is not our concern. We are more concerned with how this condition will affect the life of an infected person. Pinworm is a type of ‘roundworm’, and along with other types of worms, or helminthes, they tend to live as parasites inside the human intestines. Scientifically known as Enterobius vermicularis, the pinworm infection may also be referred to as enterobiasis and helminthiasis, a more collective term for parasitic worm infection.

Morbidity of Pinworm Infection

Pinworm infection may occur in all age groups, however, as compared with adults, infants and children are more susceptible to developing this parasitic infection. There are several reasons for that—first children tend to put whatever they have inside their mouth, they are also more inclined to eat foods and share it with other people infected with pinworm. This is the reason why this infection is prevalent in school settings, overcrowded locales and poorly sanitized places.

Pinworm can grow fast and will multiply inside the intestines because they feed with the foods that we eat and the nutrients that come with these foods. This can lead to weight loss, malnutrition, and growth retardation, especially among children. In this light, treatment for pinworms should be given a great emphasis.

Medical Treatment for Pinworms

Over the counter treatment for pinworm is available so once you notice your kid or any member of the family who possible suffers from pinworms, be sure to have him or her take anti-parasitic drugs. Albendazole and Mebendazole are two of the most common drug treatments for pinworm infection. These drugs are taken in tablet form and should only be taken in one dosage. These drugs are expected to kill the worms in a span of hours to days, depending on the severity of the pinworm infection.

There are various dosages for adults and children so when buying these drugs, be sure to inform the pharmacy of the age of the person who will take this drug. It is also not impossible for eggs to remain inside the intestines after purging the worms out so to avoid reinfection, the dosage may need to be taken again after three to four weeks.

When a woman is pregnant and possibly suffering from pinworm infection, it is best to consult the gynecologist as it may be dangerous to the pregnancy.

Herbal Treatment for Pinworms

Salt, garlic and papaya seeds are also known to treat parasitic infections. Also, a specific vine fruit found in Asian countries called the Chinese Honeysuckle or Rangoon Creeper is proven to be effective against parasitic infections.

Preventive Treatment for Pinworms

Like any other conditions, it is best to prevent the occurrence of a pinworm infection. Proper hygiene, most especially handwashing, eating and use of personal utensils should be taken into account. Washing clothes, linen, as well as stuffed toys in scalding water is also best in killing eggs which may have come in contact with such items.


Doctors want to fight soft tissue tumors with medicinal herb

(ABA)

Soft tissue sarcoma comprise tumors which are difficult to treat, are largely resistant to treatment methods such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Scientists at the Medical University of Graz have set their sights on a potentially new treatment approach based on an isolated natural substance from a South Asian plant. "The rangoon creeper - Quisqualis indica – is used by traditional Chinese medicine as an analgesic, vermifuge or to treat cancer“, explained Birgit Lohberger of the University Clinic for Orthopaedics and Orthopaedic Surgery.

Soft tissue sarcoma comprise tumors which are difficult to treat, are largely resistant to treatment methods such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Scientists at the Medical University of Graz have set their sights on a potentially new treatment approach based on an isolated natural substance from a South Asian plant.

Chemotherapy only plays a subordinate role in treating sarcoma, and in particular chondrosarcoma, which arises from the cartilage tissue, explained Birgit Lohberger of the University Clinic for Orthopaedics and Orthopaedic Surgery. This is why efforts are being made to search for alternative forms of treatment.

The doctors in Graz consider the use of medicinal herbs and plants to be a potential solution. “Up until today more than 70 percent of all approved tumor medicines are either natural products or were derived from natural products”, Lohberger said. With respect to the treatment of the extremely heterogeneous group of sarcoma, the researcher in Graz encountered the active ingredient of a South Asian wing seed plant.

"The rangoon creeper - Quisqualis indica – is used by traditional Chinese medicine as an analgesic, vermifuge or to treat cancer“, Lohberger added. She investigated the effects of its active substance ADCF on different cell lines of soft tissue sarcoma. This active substance was shown to reduce cell growth in the case of liposarcoma as well as tumors of skeletal muscles (rhabdomyosarcoma).

Moreover, it was shown that cell division was delayed by the reduced expression of cell cycle proteins and the protein Survivin, a key protein in the activation of cell nucleus division, as the Medical University of Graz stated.


Herbal healing back in Manila

By Prosy B. Montesines (The Philippine Inquirer/Asia News Network)

MANILA, Philippines - Something's growing, literally all over Metro Manila: Plants with healing properties.

They're sprouting from even the most unexpected places - roadsides, curbs, cracks on walls and streets and even in patches of earth that don't look like they can sustain life.

Botanists and gardeners say the wind and the birds scatter the seeds and spores that sprout into these plants.

All that the public needs to know now is how to recognize these plants for what they can do: Heal the sick.

The high costs of prescription medicines and the organic, back-to-nature trend have rekindled among urban residents a keen interest in herbal plants, much like the time people ate into the health food boom.

This herbal renaissance has prodded people to learn and understand the benefits of nature in relation to their health and well-being.

Herbal sanctuary

'Life begins the day you start a garden' is a Chinese proverb that rings true for Florencia Gozon Tarriela, a corporate executive and resident of Pasig City.

She works as chair of the board of the Philippine National Bank, but moved by her love and passion for natural farming, she devotes most of her weekends developing an herbal sanctuary in her 5-hectare garden in Antipolo City.

Called Flor's Garden, it serves as a laboratory designed to substantiate a campaign that she and her husband, corporate lawyer Ed Tarriela, wage to help promote healthy living among Filipinos.

They believe that the propagation and development of some 12,000 species of edible and medicinal wild plants growing in the country will reinforce their battle cry: 'No Filipino should go hungry!'

Her own researches on the medicinal potential of wild and common plants are conducted in the 'Hardin ng Buhay' section of her garden.

She gets information from books, seminars, lectures, and meetings with botanists, traditional medicine specialists and farming experts.

She also learns through the ailments of other people, including her workers who experience healing with the use of simple herbal remedies such as poultices, salves and decoctions for wounds, aches, coughs, colds and fever.

According to her, the leaves of the guava tree (Psidium guavaja) and damong maria or mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris Linn.) can be used as poultice for healing wounds. Oregano (Origanum vulgare) has strong antioxidant, antifungal and antiviral properties, while alagaw (Premna odorata Blanco) and lagundi (Vitex negundo) can help relieve fever and colds, cough, bronchitis and gas pains.

Dusol

Few people are perhaps aware that dusol (Kaempferia galanga L.), that oft-ignored and trampled-upon stemless plant growing along pathways and in open grasslands, have medicinal uses.

Fely Sabio, a coordinator at Flor's Garden, and Tarriela herself witnessed its healing power when a worker accidentally got a wooden splinter embedded in the skin of his hand and suffered an infection.

When a series of medical treatments failed to alleviate the infection and surgery was the only option left, the worker tried using a poultice of dusol. To the amazement of everyone, the tiny but stubborn splinter was finally dislodged and the infection subsided completely.

Dusol leaves are also a folkloric medicine for rheumatism and sore throat. Mixed with oil, it is said to be effective also in the treatment of dandruff.

Mayana (Coleus scutellarioides) is commonly used as an ornamental plant because of its attractive purplish flowers and blotched leaves, but herbalists say this fleshy herb can cure bruises, sprains, headaches and sinusitis.

Katakataka (Bryophyllum pinnatum) is named so because of its astonishing and mysterious characteristic: Even when a leaf is detached from the plant, its edges or notches develop, making the leaf capable of growing on its own when planted in fertile soil. Folks use this juicy herb as a poultice for boils, infections, sprains, eczema, burns and carbuncle.

Takip-kuhol (Centella asiatica), also known as Indian pennyworth or gotu kola (although studies show it has no cola or caffeine content) is said to be rich in vitamin B and commonly used in the treatment of colds, tonsillitis and bronchitis.

Hyssop, an aromatic plant belonging to the mint family, has served as an antiseptic and astringent since the Biblical times, while catmint or kabling (Anisomeles indica Linn) relieves rheumatism, bone pain, fever, abdominal cramps, gas pains, eczema, and toothache.

Rare herbs

Two rare herbs found in Flor Garden are stevia (Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni) or sugar leaf and kadok (Piper sarmentosum). Because the leaves of stevia taste sugar-sweet, people with diabetes or high blood pressure can use it as an alternative to sugar and artificial sweeteners, according to Tarriela.

Kadok may be seldom seen in the country, but in Malaysia and Indonesia, it is a common plant used in traditional medicine and cooking (the subtly peppery taste of the heart-shaped and glossy leaves adds zest to omelets and other viands). A study conducted by the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) shows that extracts from Kadok leaves have anti-oxidant properties.

According to the World Health Organization website, 80 percent of the population in some Asian and African countries count on herbal treatments for their primary health care.

'Arbularyo' stuff

Once dismissed as arbularyo myth, herbal healing has attained a higher cultural status as a healthy alternative to using expensive prescription medicines, even as some medical authorities continue to express reservation about its efficacy and safety.

Clinical researches, however, have shown the potent healing properties of some herbal plants, categorizing them into folkloric and scientifically validated. In fact, the Department of Health has named 10 herbal plants as scientifically validated herbal medicines.

These are sambong (Blumea balsifera) for the treatment of urinary ailment, edema and prevention of the formation of kidney stones; akapulko (Cassia alata L.) for fungal diseases; niyug-niyogan or Chinese honey suckle (Quisqualis indica L.) for intestinal worm; tsaang gubat (Carmona retusa) for diarrhea and stomachache; ampalaya (Momordica charantia) for diabetes mellitus; lagundi (Vitex negundo) for coughs; ulasimang bato or pansit-pansitan (Peperonica pellucida) for rheumatism and gout; garlic (Allium sativum) for high cholesterol and high blood pressure; guava (Psidium guajava L) for diarrhea and as a disinfectant for wounds; and wild mint or yerba buena (Mentha cordifolia Opiz) for nausea and muscle aches.

Now sold in drugstores and health shops, they come in capsules, tablets, teas, syrups, and salves.

Industry of the future

The Chamber of Herbal Industries of the Philippines reportedly targets $1 billion in export of herbal products to the United States and the Middle East by 2010.

With the profusion of edible and medicinal plants in the country, the natural ingredients or raw materials industry promises to be the industry of the future.

Continuing scientific studies on the application, efficacy and safety of folkloric herbal medicines will therefore mean two good things for Filipinos: Good health and wealth.

Like Flor Tarriela, city folks should really think big of getting back into herbs.

Ryan Drum, noted botanist and author of the book 'Planting the Future,' underscores the urgent need to go herbal quite succinctly: 'Down with lawns, up with herbs.'