Botanical Description.—A plant about 3° high, stem straight, beset with sharp eminences. Leaves opposite, membranaceous, lanceolate, pinnatifid, large teeth ending in prickles. Petioles very short, 2 thorns at the base. Flowers purplish white in spikes. Calyx double; the outer one of 2 parts, the inner 4. Corolla bell-shaped, lower lip broad, keeled, fleshy, notched above. Upper lip wanting, a notch in its place. Stamens 4, didynamous. Ovary superior, conical. Style of equal length with stamens. Stigma bifid. Seed vessels 2-celled, each cell with 2 heart-shaped, flattened, rough seeds.
Habitat.—Very common in regions inundated by salt water.
Barleria Prionitis, L. (Barreliera Prionitis, Blanco.)
Nom. Vulg.—Kokog̃manok, Kulanta, Tag.
Uses.—This plant is not used medicinally in the Philippines. The natives of Bombay are accustomed to use its juice to anoint the soles of their feet during the rainy season in order to toughen the skin and prevent fissures due to prolonged maceration.
The leaf juice is bitter and acid; it is a favorite with the natives of India in the treatment of the catarrhal fevers common among their children, administered in doses of 2 tablespoonfuls a day mixed with sweetened water.
In Concan the dry bark is given for whooping-cough and the juice of the fresh bark in doses of 2 “tolas” (7.60 grams) for anasarca. Dr. Bidie states that the action is diaphoretic and expectorant.
Botanical Description.—A plant 2–3° high, stem creeping, the ends rising; enlarged at the joints, glabrous. Leaves smooth, opposite, lanceolate, finely serrate, fringed, somewhat downy below, glabrous above. Petioles short, 4 axillary spines. Flowers straw-color, axillary, sessile, solitary. Calyx deeply cleft in 4 parts, ovate, ending in spines. Corolla funnel-shaped, tube short, throat nude, limb 5-lobed. Stamens 4, didynamous. Ovary 2-celled. Style same length as stamens. Seed-vessel ovate, flattened and sharp-pointed, 2-celled, each cell with a flat, heart-shaped seed.
Habitat.—In Guadalupe, Mandaloyon and San Juan del Monte. Blooms in April.
Justicia Gendarussa, L. (Gandarussa vulgaris, Nees.; Dianthera subserrata, Blanco.)