Convolvulaceæ.
Convolvulus Family.
Ipomœa hederacea, Jacq. (I. nil, Roth.; Convolvulus nil, L. and Blanco.)
Nom. Vulg.—Bulakan, Tag.; Kala-Danah, Indo-Eng.
Uses.—This plant is not used as a medicine by the Filipinos, but is official in the Pharmacopœia of India from which we copy its indications and official preparations.
The seed is the part employed, its cathartic properties being much like those of jalap, though less energetic. An excellent substitute for the latter is 2 or 3 grams of kala-danah seeds in powder form, and no unpleasant effects attend its operation.
The official preparations are:
Extract of Kaladana.—Dose, 30–60 centigrams in pill.
| Powdered seeds | 500 grams. |
| Alcohol | 2 liters. |
| Water | 4½ liters. |
Tincture of Kaladana.—Dose, 8–12 grams.
| Seeds | 75 grams. |
| Alcohol | 500 grams. |
Compound Powder of Kaladana.—Dose, 3–3½ grams.
| Powdered seeds | 150 grams. |
| Acid tartrate of potassium | 270 grams. |
| Powdered ginger | 30 grams. |
The last is an excellent substitute for the corresponding preparation of jalap.
Resin of Kaladana.—Dose, 30–50 centigrams. It is prepared like resin of jalap and is a safe and sure purgative. In mass it has a dark color, but is gray when powdered. The odor is rather unpleasant, the taste sweetish and then acrid, nauseous, persistent, exciting the saliva and irritating the fauces. It was introduced into practice by Dr. G. Vidie.
Botanical Description.—A twiner with round, downy stem. Leaves heart-shaped, 3-lobed, the middle one broad-lanceolate, the lateral ones rather rectangular with petioles of equal length with the leaves. Flowers large, rose color or pale blue, in axillary cymes of 2 or 3 flowers each. Calyx, 5 long, downy parts. Corolla bell-shaped, 5 faint lobes. Stamens 5, free, inserted in the corolla. Ovary free, 3 biovulate locules. Style simple. Stigma trilobed. Seed vessels globose with 3 locules each containing 2 seeds. Seeds convex on dorsum, 1/2 cm. broad by 1 cm. long, testa black.
Habitat.—Manila. Blooms in August.
Ipomœa pes-capræ, Roth. (Convolvulus pes-capræ L. and Blanco.)
Nom. Vulg.—Katagkatag, Lagayray, Lampayog, Bagasoa, Kamigag, Daripay, Tagaray, Arodayday, Lambayog, Tag., Vis.; Lambayog, Iloc.
Uses.—The dry, powdered leaves are dusted over bruises and ulcers. The entire plant is very mucilaginous and the bruised fresh leaves are applied like poultices to cancers and ulcerating tumors. In India the boiled leaves are applied locally in colic and in rheumatism; the juice is given internally in dropsy as a diuretic, the pounded leaves at the same time serving as a poultice to the œdematous parts.
Botanical Description.—A plant that creeps extensively, the stem taking root. Leaves with 2 well-marked lobules. Flowers rose-lilac color, in axillary panicles with long pedicels. Corolla very large, bell-shaped, the limb 5-angled and 5-nerved. Stamens 5, unequal in height. Stigma globose, marked by a line; later it divides in two. Seed vessel ovate, 2-celled, in each cell 2 downy seeds convex on one side, angular on the other.
Habitat.—Very common on the seashore. Blooms in January.
Ipomœa Turpethum, R. Br. (Convolvulus Turpethum, L.; C. maximus, Blanco.)
Nom. Vulg.—Albohol, Sp.; Turpeth Root, Indian Jalap, Eng.
Uses.—The root, known in the Philippines as “turbita,” is a purgative and is a component part of the tincture of jalap, one of the most positive and active of known cathartics. But turpeth root is seldom used alone, for its action is so uncertain that Sir W. O’Shaughnessy pronounced the plant unworthy of a place in the Pharmacopœia of India. The dose of the powder is 1–4 grams, the resin 40–50 cgms., the decoction of the root 4–12 grams. The active principle is a resin soluble in ether and a glucoside, turpethin, C34H56O16.
In the east of India they make offerings of the flowers to the god Shiva, and also put them to more practical use by applying them to the head for neuralgic headache.
Botanical Description.—A vine with quadrangular stem. Leaves heart-shaped. Flowers axillary, numerous, in umbels. Calyx deeply cleft in 5 imbricated, ovate, fleshy parts. Corolla bell-shaped, folded. Stamens 5, unequal in height. Ovary inserted on an hypogynous disk, with 2 biovulate compartments. Style same length as stamens. Stigma bilobulate, globose. Seed vessel square, encircled by calyx, 2 locules each with 2 seeds.
Habitat.—Common in Bauang and Pasig. Blooms in November.