Botanical Description.--A small tree, 7-8° high, with straight stem,
branched and woody. Leaves sessile, opposite, cleft at the base,
oval, fleshy and woolly. Flowers lateral in simple umbels of 3 or
more flowerets. Calyx 5-cleft. Corolla monopetalous, 5 acute lobes,
white, of rare and beautiful form. Nectaries 5, united throughout
their length with the receptacle, their bases curved like the sides
of the fleur de lis.
Above the nectaries is a 5-angled crown, the extremity of the
receptacle; in each angle a black anther. Two large follicles narrowed
at the ends, woolly, the apex somewhat curved to one side, containing
many imbricated seeds, each with a tuft of long hairs.
Habitat.--Bauang, Taal and the volcanic island of Taal. Blossoms
in April.
_Tylophora asthmatica_, Wight. (_Asclepias asthmatica_, Roxb.)
Nom. Vulg.--(?)
Uses.--We are ignorant of the uses the Filipinos make of this plant. It
is official in the Pharmacopoeia of India, the dry powdered leaf
being the part employed, and its emetic, diaphoretic and expectorant
properties are well known in that country. Roxburgh has used the
root as an emetic and Anderson has employed it in the same manner as
ipecac in dysentery. Later the experience of Anderson was confirmed
by O'Shaughnessy; though in place of the root he used the leaf,
the properties of which he regards as more certain and uniform.
Dr. J. Kirkpatrick has noted that the juice of the root and its
powder are used by the natives of Mysore as an emetic, and adds that
he himself has used it for that purpose in a thousand cases with good
results. In its effect on dysentery as well as in its emetic effect it
resembles ipecacuanha. He used the powder in doses of 1.20-1.80 gr.,
to which he added 3-6 centigrams of tartar emetic when he desired
to obtain an energetic emetic action. Like O'Shaughnessy he prefers
the powdered leaves. He considers it a good substitute for ipecac,
not only as an emetic, but as a remedy in asthma, dysentery and
catarrhal affections; Drs. Oswald and Mooden Sheriff have made the
same observations. The latter advises the administration of the juice
of the plant for snake bites till vomiting is produced; then follow
with diffusible stimulants.
The emetic dose of the powdered leaves is 1.20-1.80 grams, the
expectorant and diaphoretic dose 10-30 centigrams. The concentrated
infusion of the leaves has an acrid taste. Tannic acid, the neutral
acetate of lead and caustic potash produce with it an abundant
precipitate; the perchloride of iron colors it a dark green. Broughton,
of Ootaemund (India), informed Hanbury and Flückiger, from whom we
quote, that in 1872 he obtained a very small quantity of crystals from
a large quantity of leaves. He had not enough to make an analysis,
but injected a solution of the crystals into a dog with resulting
vomiting and diarrhoea.
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