Family • Convolvulaceae - Merremia vitifolia (Burm. f.) Hallier f. - GRAPE-LEAF WOOD ROSE - Zhang ye yu huang cao Scientific names Merremia vitofolia Burm. f. Convolvulus vitifolius Burm. f. Convolvulus angularis Burm. f. Ipomoea vitifolia Burm.f. Common names Kalalakmit (Sul.) Lakmit (Tag.) Grape-leaf wood rose (Engl.) Other vernacular names CHINESE: Zhang ye yu huang cao. MALAYALAM: Manja kolambi valli, Manja vayaravalli. MARATHI: Navli. Botany Lakmit is a hairy, woody climber with slender stems. Leaves are rounded, 5 to 15 centimeters wide, palmately 5-lobed, and heart-shaped at the base. Sepals are hairy, ovate, 10 to 15 millimeters in length, and longer in the fruit. Corolla is yellow, bell-shaped, and 3.5 to 4 centimeters long. Capsule is rounded and 10 to 15 centimeters in diameter. Seeds are dark brown, smooth, about 5 millimeters in diameter. Additional Sources and Suggested Readings (1) CONVOLVULACEAE / Merremia Dennst. ex Endl. / Gen. Pl., Suppl. 1: 1403 (1841). Distribution - Found in the Laguna Province in Luzon; and in Palawan, Balabac, Semirara, and Negros, in open grasslands by deserted dwellings, and in thickets at low altitudes. - Also occurs in southeastern Asia and Malaya. Constituents - Leaves yield a glycoside, which on hydrolysis yields hydrocyanic acid and benzaldehyde. Properties - Hairs on the leaves are irritating. - Juice considered cooling. Parts used Plant juice. Uses Edibility - Juice considered cooling and is given with milk and sugar. - Immature, unripe fruits are chewed. Folkloric - Infusion is drunk for high fevers. - Juice used for poulticing soreness and inflammation. - [...]

Family • Lamiaceae - Lavandula angustifolia Mill. - ENGLISH LAVENDER - Xun yi cao Scientific names Lavandula angustifolia Mill. Lavandula officinalis Chaix. Lavandula spicata Linn. Lavandula spica Linn. Lavandula vera DC. Common names Lavender (Engl.) True lavender (Engl.) Loddon pink (Engl.) Xun yi cao (Chin.) Other vernacular names ALBANIAN: Livande e vertete. GERMAN: Lavendel. ARABIC: Khuzaama, Lafand. GREEK: Lebánta, Levanta. ARMENIAN: Hoosam, Husam. HUNGARIAN: Levendula. AZERBAIJANI: Lavanda. ITALIAN: Fior Di Spigo, Lavanda, Lavanda Vera, Spigo. BULGARIAN: Lavandula. JAPANESE: Rabenda, Ravunda. CROATIAN: Ljekovita Lavanda. KOREAN: Ra-Ban-Din, Ra-Ben-Deo, Rabandin, Rabendeo, Rabendo. CZECH: Levandule, Levandule Lekařská. NORWEGIAN: Lavendel. DANISH: Hunlavendel, Lavendel. PORTUGUESE: Alfazema. DUTCH: Lavendel, Spijklavendel. SPANISH: Alhucema, Espliego, Lavanda. FINNISH: Laventeli, Tupsupäälaventeli. THAI: Lawendeort. FRENCH: Lavande. Botany Lavender is a shrubby evergreen perennial growing to a height of 1 to 3 feet, with short, crooked, much-branched stems, covered with a yellowish-grey bark, with numerous, erect, straight, slender quadrangular branches. Leaves are opposite, sessile, entire, linear and blunt, with curved or curled back margins, 1 to 1.5 inches long, green with scattered hairs above, smooth or finely downy below. Flowers are in terminal, blunt spikes on long stems from young shoots. Spikes are whorls or rings of flowers, six to ten flowers in each. Flowers are short stalked, 3 to 5 in the axils of brown, thin and dry bracts. Calyx is tubular and ribbed, purple-grey, five-toothed and hairy. Two-lipped corolla is bluish violet in color. Distribution - Introduced. - Cultivated in the Baguio area. Constituents • Contains an essential oil, 1.0 to 3.0% – the major constituents [...]

Family • Amaryllidaceae - Crinum latifolium Linn. - PINK-STRIPED TRUMPET LILY - Xi nan wen zhu lan Scientific names Crinum zeylanicum Linn. Crinum latifolium Linn. Crinum ornaturm var. latifolium (L.) Other common names Bakong (Tag.) Lirion (Span.) Milk and wine lily (Engl.) Pink-striped trumpet lily (Engl.) Other vernacular names BENGALI: Sukhdarshan. CHINESE: Xi nan wen zhu lan. MARATHI: Gandani-kanda, Gadambhikanda, Golkamdo. SANSKRIT: Madhuparnika, Vrishakarni. TAMIL: Vishamungil. Botany Lirio is a lily plant, with subglobose bulbs up to 10 centimeters in diameter. Leaves are many, oblong-linear, 30 to 100 centimeters long, 5 to 8 centimeters wide. Scape is inserted on neck of the bulb, about as long as the leaves, stout and tinged with purple. Flowers are about 10 in each umbel, fragrant, about 8 centimeters long. Perianth tube is curved, 10 to 12centimeters long. Segments are oblong-lanceolate, 7.5 to 10 centimeters long, 2.5 to 3centimeters wide, white but flushed with pale purple in the median part. Filaments are white. Fruit is somewhat rounded, 4 to 5 centimeters in diameter. The cultivated hybrid forms give a variety of colors, some with white stripes running from the center of red segments. Distribution - Cultivated for ornamental purposes. - Scarcely naturalized. - Native of India. Additional Sources and Suggested Readings (1) Aqueous extracts of Crinum latifolium (L.) and Camellia sinensis show immunomodulatory properties in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells / E. Zvetkova et al / International Immunopharmacology • Volume 1, Issue 12, November 2001, Pages 2143-2150 / doi:10.1016/S1567-5769(01)00140-0 (2) New constituents from Crinum latifolium with inhibitory effects against tube-like formation of human umbilical venous endothelial cells / Nguyen-Hai Nam [...]

Family • Zingiberaceae - Curcuma zedoaria (Berg.) Ro - ZEDOARY ROOT - Yu jin Scientific names Curcuma zedoaria (Christm.) Roscoe Curcuma zedoaria (Berg.) Roscoe Curcuma zerumbet (Berg.) Roxb. Curcuma zerumbet (Berg.) Roxb. Amomum zedoaria Christm. Roscoea lutea Hassk. E shu (Ilk.) Common names Alimpuyas (C. Bis.) Alimpuying (C. Bis.) Barak (Tag.) Konik (Ilk.) Koniko (Bon.) Lampoyang (P. Bis.) Langkauas (Ilk.) Langkuas (Ilk.) Tamahiba (Tag.() Tamahilan (Bik.) Tamo (Pamp., Tag.) Tamokansi (Tag.) Unig (If.) Long zedoary (Engl.) Round zedoary (Engl.) White tumeric (Engl.) Zedoary root (Engl.) Yu jin (Chin.) Other vernacular names ARABIC: Gadwâr, Satwâl, Zadwâr. BOSNIAN: Beli isiot, Isiot, Setvar. CHINESE: E zhu. CROATIAN: Beli isiot, Isiot, Setvar. DANISH: Zedoar. DUTCH: Zedoar, Zedoarwortel. FRENCH: Curcuma zédoaire, Gingembre bâtard, Zédoaire. GERMAN: Zedoarwurzel, Zitwer, Zittwer kurkume. HINDI: Kachur. ITALIAN: Radice di curcuma, Zedoaria, Zedoaria lunga. LAOTIAN: Khi min khay. MALAY: Temu kuning, Temu puteh, Temu putih (Indonesia). NEPALESE: Kacur, Van haledo.. PORTUGUESE: Zedoária. RUSSIAN: Kurkuma zedoarskaia. SERBIAN: Beli isiot, Isiot, Setval. SPANISH: Cedoaria, Cetoal. THAI: Haeo dam, Kha mîn oi, Kha mîn khuen. TURKISH: Çevdar, Gulpa hamar. VIETNAMESE: Bông truât, Ngái tim, Nga truât, Tam nai. Botany Zedoary is a large perennial herb with underground tuberous rootstock. Rhizomes, like that of dilaw(Curcuma longa), are fleshy, aromatic with an odor like that of ginger, pale yellow in color. Leaves are usually in pairs, erect, petioled, green, often with a purplish blotch in the center, elliptic-oblong to oblong-lanceolate, slenderly acuminate, 25 to 70 centimeters long, 8 to 15 centimeters wide. Scape arises from the rootstock and not from the leaf-tuft, often appearing [...]

Family • Hydrocharitaceae - Enhalus acoroides (L.) Royle - EEL GRASS - Hai chang pu Scientific names Enhalus acoroides (L.f.) Royle Enhalus koenigii Rich ex. Steud. Enhalus marinus Griff. Stratiotes acoroides (L.) Other vernacular names INDIA: Olai pasi. INDONESIA: Deringu laut, Jelamun, Lamun. MALAYSIA: Setul, Jerangau laut. Common names Iaai (Tag.) Lamon (Bik., Tag.) Lusay (Tag.) Palaipat-baibai (Ilk.) Eel grass (Engl.) Tape seagrass (Engl.) Hai chang pu (Chin.) Botany Lamon is an aquatic weed. Leaves are long and ribbonlike, alternating in two ranks. Roots are cordlike with firm black fibers anchored in the bottom mud. Fruits occur singly, connected by spiral stalks to the base of old leaves. Flowers are water pollinated (hydrophilous). Female stalk lengthens before pollination and fertilization. After fertilization, the stalk shortens and coils in a springlike fashion until maturity, and straightening out when the seed are ready for release. Distribution - Found in muddy salt-water gulfs, lagoons, and seagrass areas of the Philippines and other tropical seas. - in fishponds, waterways, and sea bathing resorts, sometimes colonizing in abundance to cause obstruction of water flow. - Widespread in the Indo-Pacific, from southern Japan to Taiwan, Indonesia, and Malaysia, extending to China, Vietnam, and Thailand. Additional Sources and Suggested Readings (1) Evaluation of seagrasses for their nutritional value / M. Pradheeba, E. Dilipan, E.P. Nobi, T. Thangaradjou and K. Sivakumar* / Indian Journal of Geo-Marine Sciences Vol. 40(1), February 2011, pp. 105-111 (2) Antifeedant, antibacterial, and antilarval compounds from the South China Sea seagrass Enhalus acoroides / Shu-Hua Qi*, Si Zhang, Pei-Yuan Qian and [...]

Family • Asteraceae - Lactuca sativa Linn. - LETTUCE - Wo ju Scientific names Lactuca sativa Linn. Lactuca scariola Linn. Wo ju (Chin.) Common names Letsugas (Tag.) Garden lettuce (Engl.) Lettuce (Engl.) Lechuga (Span.) Sheng cai (Chin.) Saang choy (Chin.) Other vernacular names CHINESE: Wo ju, Sheng cai. ITALIAN: Insalata, Lattuga, Lattuga coltivata. CROATIAN: Pitoma locika, Salata. JAPANESE: Chisa, Retasu. CZECH: Dārza salāti, Dārza salātus, Hlávkový salát, Locika salát, Salát. NORWEGIAN: Hagesalat. DANISH: Havesalat, Salat . PERSIAN: Khas. DUTCH: Bindsalade, Sla. POLISH: Salata, Salata sierwna. FINNISH: Ruokasalaatti, Salaattii. PORTUGUESE: Alface. FRENCH: Laitue, Laitue commune, Laitue cultivée. RUSSIAN: Salat latuk. GERMAN: Batavia Salat, Gartenlattich, Gartensalat, Grüner Salat, Kopfsalat, Salat. SERBIAN: Locika, Marula, Pitoma locika, Salata. GREEK: Marouli. SLOVENIAN: Virhovka, Vrtna salata. HEBREW: Chasa, Chasa tarbutit. SPANISH: Lechuga, Lattuga coltivata.. HUNGARIAN: Fejessaláta, Fejes saláta, Kerti saláta, Leveles saláta, Salàta. SWEDISH: Huvudsallat, Laktuk, Sallad, Sallat, Trädgårdssallat. ICELANDIC: Rómverskt salat. VIETNAMESE: Salat.. Botany Letsugas is an erect, usually simple, annual, smooth, very leafy herb reaching a height of 1 meter when in flower. Leaves are stalkless, obovate to oblong-obovate, 6 to 20 centimeters long, entire or lobed, toothed, thin, and numerous at the base. Heads are numerous, about 1 centimeter long, and borne in open panicles; the branches, often much reduced, bear bractlike leaves. Flowers are yellow. Involucral bracts are ovate, the inner ones linear. Achenes are brown, with a very slender beak about as long as the body. Distribution - Common commercial and garden cultivation for food. - Nowhere established. Constituents - Leaves yield a bitter [...]

Family • Rhamnaceae - Gouania leptostachya DC. - Xia guo teng Scientific names Gouania leptostachya DC. Gouania tiliaefolia Roxb. [Illegitimate]. Gouania retinaria DC. Gouania microcarpa Rolfe Gouania domingensis Blanco Gouania microcarpa DC. var. subglabra Elm. Common names Litiran (Tag.) Liua-a (Bag.) Mañgauhai (Bmo.) Pahampak (Pamp.) Ruñgo-ruñgo (Ilk.) Slender spiked gouania (Engl.) Other vernacular names BENGALI: Batvassi. CHINESE: Xia guo teng. HINDI: Bitkil-chaand. NEPALESE: Batvassi. TELUGU: Penki tiga. Botany Litiran is an unarmed, climbing shrub. Leaves are alternate, somewhat hairy, ovate, 6 to 10 centimeters long, and 4 to 5 centimeters wide, with pointed tip and slightly heart-shaped base. Flowers are small, greenish or whitish, and borne on axillary or terminal panicles. Fruit is smooth, with narrow wings. Distribution - Found from northern Luzon to Mindanao in thickets at low and medium altitudes. - Also reported in India to the Mascarene Islands, Indo-China, and Malaya. (1) Two new benzopyran derivativesfrom Gouania leptostachya DC. var. tonkinensis Pitard. / Chong Yaoa,b Shu Jie Zhangc Zheng Zhong Baic Tong Zhoud LiJiang Xua / Chinese Chemical Leters 22 (2011) 175~177 (2) Phytochemical, antioxidant and antibacterial activities of medicinal plants used in Northern Thailand as postpartum herbal bath recipes by the Mien (Yao) community / Kannika Panyaphu1,* Panee Sirisa-ard, Preeyawis Na Ubol, Surapol Nathakarnkitkul, Sunee Chansakaow, Tran Van On / Phytopharmacology 2012, 2(1) 92-105 (3) Free radicals scavenging activity of Mongolian endemic and Vietnamese medicinal plants / T Batmunkh, QH Juan, DT Nga, KE Kyung, KY Ah, SY Wan, KK Ah, L Burm-Jong/ Planta Med 2007; 73 - P_057 DOI: 10.1055/s-2007-986839 (4) Anti-inflammatory activities of Gouania [...]

Family • Zingiberaceae - Dilaw - Curcuma longa Linn. - LONG TURMERIC - Yu-chin Scientific names Curcuma longa Linn. Curcuma xanthorrhiza Naves Curcuma domestica Valeton Jiang huang (Chin.) Common names Angay (Pamp.) Dilau (Tag.) Dilaw (Tag.) Dulaw (S.L. Bis.) Kalabaga (Bis.) Kalawag (Mbo., Bis.) Kalauag (Mbo., Bis.) Kinamboy (Bis.) Kinamboi (Bis.) Kulalo (Bis.) Kulyaw (Ilk.) Kunig (Ilk.) kunik (Ibn.) Lampuyang (P. Bis.) Lawag (Sub.) Luyang-dilaw (Tag.) Pangar (Pamp.) Pangas (Pamp.) Parak (Kuy.) Salampawyan (Bag.) Salampauyan (Bag.) Turmeric (Engl.) Yu-chin (Chin.) Long turmeric (Engl.) Other vernacular names ARABIC: Aqîd hindî, Hurd, Kurkum, Timmer (Egypt). BENGALI: Halud. BRUNEI: Kunyit, temu kuning, temu kunyit. BURMESE: Sa nwin. CAMBODIA: Ro miet. CHINESE: Yu jin, Jiang huang, Huang jiang, Yu chiu, Yu jin. DANISH : Gurkemeje. DUTCH: Geelwortel, Indaansche saffraan, Kurkuma. FINNISH: Maustekurkuma. FRENCH: Arrow-root de l'Inde, Curcuma long, safran des Indes, turmeric, Safran du pays, Safran-cooli. GERMAN: Gelbwurzel, Gelbwurz, Gilber Ingwer, Gilbwurzel, Indischer Safran, Kurkuma. INDONESIA: Kunyit, kunir, koneng. ITALIAN: Croco indiano, Curcuma di Levante, Curcuma lunga, Radice gialla, Safferano dell Indie. JAPANESE: Taamerikku, Ukon. LAOTIAN: Khi min, 'khmin 'khun. MALAYALAM: Manjal. MALAYSIA: Kunyit, temu kunyit, tius. PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Lavar, tamaravirua. PERSIAN: Zard-chobah. POLISH: Kurkumal, Klacze kurkumy. RUSSIAN: Kurkuma dlinnaia, Kurkuma domashniaia, Kurkumy koren', Turmerik. SINHALESE: Kaha. SPANISH: Azafrán de la India. THAILAND: Khamin, khamin kaeng, khamin chan, Kha min hua. TURKISH: Hind zafrani, Kurkim, Kurkum, Zerdé djavé. VIETNAMESE: Khuong hoàng, Nghe, Uâtkim. Botany Dilaw is a leafy plant, 1 to 1.5 meters tall, with 5 to 6 leaves. Rhizomes are bright yellow inside, thick and cylindric. [...]

Family • Lycopodiaceae - Lycopodium cernuum L. - TRUE CLUB MOSS - P'u-ti Wu-sung Scientific names Lycopodium cernuum L. Lepidotis cernua (L.) P. Beauv. Lycopodiella cernua (L.) Pic. Serm. Palhinhaea cernua (L.) Franco et Vasc. Chui sui shi song (Chin.) Other vernacular names CHINESE: Hai nan chui sui shi song. WEST AFRICA: Akuru eke, Nyonyo. Common names Iuiukou (Ig.) Iakiakan (Ig.) Kolokolud (Ig.) Kuio-kuio (Bis.) Lamon-babae (Tag.) Licopodio (Tag.) Samong-babai (Bik.) Monkey's paws (Engl.) Sinew-extending herb (Engl.) True club moss (Engl.) P'u-ti Wu-sung (Chin.) Botany Lamon-babae is a prostrate plant, with stout and creeping stems, 30 to 100 centimeters long, and with small bristly leaves throughout. Primary branches are rigidly erect, 20 to 60 centimeters long, much branched in the upper portion; the lower branches are divided and short, spreading or ascending, pendulous towards the tips. Leaves are inserted all around the stems and branches, crowded, narrowly linear-subulate, 2 to 3 millimeters long. Spikes (cone-like fruiting bodies) are numerous, solitary, and sessile on the tips of the branchlets, 5 to 15 millimeters long. Additional Sources and Suggested Readings (1) Natural products inhibiting Candida albicans secreted aspartic proteases from Lycopodium cernuum / Zhang Z, ElSohly HN et al / J Nat Prod. 2002 Jul;65(7):979-85. (2) FOLK MEDICINAL PLANTS OF THE NAGAS IN INDIA / Sapu Changkija / Asian Folklore Studies, Volume 58, 1999: 205–230 (3) Studies on the Constituents of Domestic Lycopodium Genus Plants. XIII. : On the Constituents of Lycopodium cernuum L. and Lycopodium inundatum L. [in Japanese] / Inubishi Yasuo, Harayama Takashi et al / Journal of [...]

Family • Anacardiaceae - Spondias pinnata (Linn. f.) Kurz. - COMMON HOG PLUM - Wai mu ge Scientific names Spondias pinnata (L. f.) Kurz. Spondias acuminata Roxb. Spondias mangifera Willd. Mangifera pinnata L. f. Common names Lannu (Cagayan) Lano (Cagayan) Libas (Tag., Zamboanga) Lubas (Bik.) Common hog plum (Engl.) Indian mombin (Engl.) Wild mango (Engl.) Wai mu ge (Chin.) Other vernacular names ASSAMESE: Aamrata, Amora. MARATHI: Amada, Ambada, Dholamba, Khatamba, Ranamba. BENGALI: Aamada, Aamraata, Aamraataka, Amra. NEPALESE: Amaaro. CHINESE: Bin lang qing, Mu ge, Zhao wa wen po. ORIYA: Ambaada. GERMAN: Mangopflaume. PORTUGUESE: Cajamangueira, Cajá-manga, Imbú manga. GUJARATI: Ambaada. SANSKRIT: Aamraata, Amraatakah, Metula, Pitan. HINDI: Ambara, Ambari, Amra, Amara, Bhringi-phal, Metula, Pashu-haritaki,Pitan. SPANISH: Ciruela mango, Jobo de la India, Mango jobo. JAPANESE: Amura tamagonoki. TAMIL: Ambalam, Ambazham, Kincam, Pulima. KANNADA: Amategayi mara, Ambatte mara, Marahunsie, Muthiga. TELUGU: Adavimamidi, Adhvamu, Ambalamu. MALAYALAM: Ambazham. THAI: Makok, Má kok pa. Botany Libas is a tree reaching a height of about 25 meters and a diameter of about 60 centimeters. Bark surface is smooth, with irregular cracks, grey to pale reddish brown, exuding a clear, sticky sap with a turpentine smell. Leaves are alternate, pinnately compound, 20 centimeters or more in length. Leaflets are pointed at the apex, rounded or abruptly pointed at the base, 7 to 14 centimeters in length. Flowers are small and in panicles. Fruit is rounded, yellow, a one-seeded drupe, with a finely flavored, edible pulp. Distribution - In primary forests at low altitudes. - Occasionally planted as a shade tree. - Widespread from [...]