Cucurbitaceæ.
Gourd Family.
Trichosanthes palmata, Roxb. (T. tricuspis, Mig.; T. lucioniana, Bares.)
Nom. Vulg.—(?).
Uses.—Roxburgh states that the fruit is toxic and sometimes used to kill crows. Dymock states that the leaf is smoked in Bombay as a remedy for asthma.
The extremely bitter taste of the fruit and rind induced Sir W. O’Shaughnessy to examine it for tonic and purgative properties; doses as high as 0.20 gram 3 times a day failed to exert a purgative effect. The root is used in veterinary medicine particularly for pneumonia. Mixed with equal parts of colocynth it is applied to carbuncles. In combination with equal parts of Terminalia chebula and ginger it is made into a sweetened infusion for internal use in gonorrhœa.
Botanical Description.—A climber with broad, heart-shaped, serrate, 7-lobulate leaves. Flowers monœcious; staminate white and racemose; pistillate solitary, growing at the base of the staminate racemes. Staminate receptacle tubular, calyx inserted on the border of the receptacle, 5 sepals. Corolla, 5 petals. Stamens 5, of which 4 are in pairs. Pistillate: the receptacle dilates in its lower part in form of a globose vase and encloses the unilocular pluriovulate ovary. Fruit ovoid or pyriform, scarlet when fresh, orange-yellow when dry. Seeds of irregular form, somewhat triangular. Kernel oily.
Habitat.—Luzon.
T. anguina, L. (T. amara, Blanco.)
Nom. Vulg.—Salagsalag, Pakupis, Salimpokot, Kukubitan, Halahala, Buyokbuyok, Tag.; Tabobog, Kukubitan, Pukopukot, Kuragda, Vis., Pam.
T. cucumerina, L.
Nom. Vulg.—Probably the same as T. anguina.
Uses.—The fruit of T. anguina is purgative, emetic and anthelmintic. The natives use an infusion of the filamentous, reticulate portion surrounding the seeds, in doses of 0.50–0.60 gm., according to P. Blanco.
The second species, T. cucumerina, has a wider use. In India it is regarded as a febrifuge and laxative and is commonly given with some aromatic. Ainslie notes that the leaves, as well as the fruit, are bitter and purgative and that the Tamuls use them for their laxative and stomachic effect. Drury states that on the Malabar coast the seeds have a considerable reputation as a remedy for functional disorders of the stomach. Although the green fruit is very bitter the natives of that region use it as a condiment. The tender stems and the dry capsules, both bitter and purgative, are given in infusion and in a sweetened solution, as an aid to digestion. The seeds are febrifuge and anthelmintic. The juice of the leaves is emetic and that of the roots purgative. The decoction of the stem is expectorant.
In Bombay the plant is considered febrifuge, and is given in decoction with ginger, Swertia chirata, and sugar. The Mohammedan authors say that the T. cucumerina is effective in expelling lumbricoids and one of them mentions the following as a cure for stubborn fevers:
| Seeds of T. cucumerina | No. 180. |
| Seeds of coriander or cumin | No. 180. |
| Boiling water | 200 grams. |
Let stand over night, filter, add a little sugar, administer in 2 doses morning and evening.
In Concan they use the juice of the leaves as a liniment in remittent fevers, rubbing the hepatic region and in fact the entire body.
Botanical Description.—T. anguina, L., is a vine with 5-angled stem, bearing tendrils and spattered with white dots. Leaves heart-shaped, with 5 acute lobules, spiny-toothed. Petioles with a bifid swelling at their bases. Flowers white, monœcious. Staminate: calyx 5-toothed with dotted borders; corolla, 5 fringed petals; stamens 3; anthers 3, entirely united and forming a cylinder. Pistillate: 3 glandules in the corolla tube; style long; stigmas 3. Fruit ribbed, long, the compartments formed by reticular partitions; contains many irregular seeds, one border sharp, the other obtuse, covered by a very thin aril.
The T. cucumerina, L., is less common, bears a spindle-shaped or obovate fruit, is hairy and lacks ribs. Its seeds are ovoid, very smooth, encircled by a narrow wing. The reticulum within the fruit is similar to that of the foregoing species.
Habitat.—Common in all parts of the islands. Blooms in October.
Lagenaria vulgaris, Ser.
Nom. Vulg.—Common Gourd, Bottle Gourd, Calabash, Eng.
Var. Lagenaria Gourda, Ser. (Cucurbita lagenaria oblonga, Blanco.)
Nom. Vulg.—Calabaza de peregrino, Sp.; Pilgrim’s Gourd, Eng.
Var. L. courgourda, Ser.
Var. L. clavata, Ser. (C. lagenaria villosa, Blanco.)
Nom. Vulg.—Calabaza blanca, Sp.; Opo, Tag.; White Gourd, Eng.
Uses.—The three above-mentioned varieties of L. vulgaris, Ser., are commonly grouped under the name calabaza (gourd). All have the same action and hence the same therapeutic application. The green portion of the rind is bitter and possesses purgative and emetic properties. The decoction of the tender shoots is expectorant; in addition it appears to possess purgative properties and in India is used in jaundice.
The part of the plant most generally used is the seeds, the tænifuge properties of which are well known. Its action, however, is not always certain, which may be as truly said of all other known tænifuges. The seeds have the advantage of lacking the disgusting taste characteristic of other remedies of the same class; the taste is almost neutral and a little sugar conceals it completely. The dose is unlimited; some take 15 grams, others as high as 100, and no unpleasant symptoms of any kind have been reported. The only precaution to be observed is to give the patient a purgative 1–2 hours after his dose.
Heckel has analyzed the seeds and found a resin which he calls pepo-resina; it exists in the greenish pellicle that envelopes the embryo and appears to be the active principle of the seeds. Its dose is 0.80–1.00 gram (Dujardin-Beaumetz), the product of 250 grams of the seeds. The dose of 100 grams of the seeds mentioned above is very small, if the pepo-resin represents the entire active principle, for 100 grams of the seeds would only contain about 40 centigrams.
Botanical Description.—A very familiar vine, clammy, pubescent and musk-scented; large leaves, long-stalked flowers, white petals, greenish veiny fruit usually club-shaped or enlarged at the apex, the hard rind used for vessels, dippers, and so forth. It is noteworthy that none of the tænifuge varieties mentioned bears yellow fruit.
Luffa Ægyptiaca, Mill. (L. pentandra, Roxb.; L. petola, Ser.; Momordica operculata, Blanco.)
Nom. Vulg.—Probably bears the same names as the Trichosanthes.
Uses.—The root is a hydragogue cathartic even in minute doses. The fruit is emollient by virtue of the large quantity of mucilage it contains, but it is more interesting for other properties. When cut in two, deprived of epidermis and seeds, and washed until none of the mucilage remains, there is left a fibrous skeleton, a sort of skein of interwoven nets that constitutes the so-called vegetable sponge. It serves the same purpose as a sponge and has the advantages that its fibers do not rot and that they are easily kept clean. In view of its cheapness and plentifulness in the Philippines the above advantages should suffice to bring it into universal use for the toilet, for surgical purposes and for cleaning in general.
Botanical Description.—A vine with square, glabrous stem. Leaves alternate, cordate, 3–5-lobulate, dentate, rough, 5–7-nerved. Petioles short. Flowers monœcious. Staminate in axillary panicles; calyx bell-shaped; corolla yellow, 5 oval petals, borders entire; stamens 3; filaments short; two thick ones divide high up in 2 parts, thus giving the appearance of 5 stamens in all. Pistillate axillary, calyx adherent, 5 pointed sepals; corolla, 5 nearly triangular petals, finely dentate; style thick, short, the base encircled by 3 glandules; stigma cordate. Ovary, 3 pseudo-locules formed by the central union of the placentas; pluriovulate. Fruit oblong, terminating at the apex in a deciduous lid or cover, marked with 8 or 10 black longitudinal lines; the interior reticulate, 3 compartments with many seeds, oval, black, flat with thin borders. The natives do not distinguish between this specimen and the Trichosanthes, but it is to be noted that the corolla of the former is not ravelled or fringed.
Habitat.—Common in Luzon and Panay. Blooms in January.
Momordica balsamina, L.
Nom. Vulg.—Ampalaya, Ampalea, Tag.; Amargoso, Sp.-Fil.; Paria, Iloc.; Apalia, Pam.; Balsamina, Sp.; Balsam Apple, Eng.
M. charanta, L. (M. muricata, Willd.; M. cylindrica, Blanco.)
Nom. Vulg.—The same as of M. balsamina.
Uses.—The fruit of both varieties is edible, though a bitter principle gives it such an intensely bitter taste that it is intolerable to the unaccustomed palate. It is eaten raw as a salad, or cooked with meat or fish. The juice of the leaves is prescribed internally as a purgative and anthelmintic. In Concan it is given alone or combined with aromatics, in bilious disorders as an emetic and purgative; externally they use it as an ointment for the itch and other skin diseases; in India it is mixed with cinnamon, pepper, rice and oil of Hydnocarpus inebrians, Vahl.
The fruit and leaves are used internally for worms and externally for leprosy. Some Hindoo writers state that the fruit is tonic and stomachic, and that it is useful in rheumatism, gout, diseases of the liver and spleen.
Botanical Description.—The first variety, M. balsamina, more common than the second, is a vine with angular stem and simple tendrils. Leaves, many serrate lobules with white dots on the ends. Flowers yellow, monœcious. Staminate solitary, peduncles very long, involucre cordate; calyx 5-lobed; corolla 5 petals; filaments simple, one separate, 2 approximated; anthers joined at their bases. Pistillate solitary; ovary, 3 locules and numerous ovules; stigma, 3 bifid divisions; fruit globose, narrowing at the ends, covered with tubercles; seeds numerous, lacking albumen, having red aril.
The second variety, M. cylindrica, has a downy stem, 5-angled with simple tendrils. The leaves are 5-lobuled, cordate, serrate, with short hairs on under surface. Melon hollow, glabrous, very long, cylindrical, tapering at the ends, covered with tubercles, some elevated in longitudinal lines, others depressed; seeds in 3 rows, enveloped in pulpy arils, white, long quadrangular, truncate above, encircled by 2 rows of obtuse toothlets.
Habitat.—Both grow in all parts and are well known.
Citrullus Colocynthis, Schard. (Cucumis Colocynthis, L.)
Nom. Vulg.—Coloquíntida, Sp.; Colocynth, Bitter Apple, Eng.
Uses.—The part employed is the fruit pulp, official in all the pharmacopœias as a very energetic hydragogue cathartic. It is seldom given alone, but in combination with other drugs to modify its energy and its action.
In large doses it causes vomiting, bloody diarrhœa and a series of nervous phenomena that may end in death. Six to ten grams constitute a toxic dose. It operates with most force upon the large intestines and sympathetically upon the uterus.
Dose.—Extract, 0.10–0.30 gram; powder, 0.30–1.00 gram.
The pulp contains a yellow, intensely bitter substance, quite soluble in water and in alcohol, discovered by Hubschmann and named by him coloquintina. The seeds contain 17% of an insipid oil.
Botanical Description.—An herb with long, prostrate stems covered with stiff hairs. Leaves alternate, triangular, deeply cleft in 3 lobules that subdivide. Petioles long. The color of the leaves is pale green above, whitish or gray and covered with white hairs underneath. Flowers yellow, monœcious, solitary, axillary, with long peduncles. Staminate: receptacle cup-formed, 5 sepals and 5 free, yellow petals; 5 stamens in pairs, one free. Pistillate: the receptacle globose, covering the lower part of the ovary; 3 staminodes take the place of the stamens. Ovary unilocular, uniovulate, with a short style bearing 3 lobules at its apex. Fruit globose, 6–8 centimeters in diameter, smooth, greenish, later yellow with white spots; it is full of a whitish pulp that becomes dry and pithy and that contains the obovate seeds, smooth, flattened, brown, lacking albumen.
Habitat.—Manila.