Family • Berberidaceae - Nandina domestica Thunb. - SACRED BAMBOO - Nan tian zhu Scientific names Nandina domestica Thunb. Nandina domestica var. lineanifolia C.Y. Wu ex S.Y. Bao Common names Firepower (Engl.) Nandina (Engl.) Nanten (Engl.) Heavenly bamboo (Engl.) Sacred bamboo (Engl.) Other vernacular names BRAZIL: Avenca japonesa, Bambu celeste, Bambu do ceu. FRENCH: Nandine fruitiere. ITALIAN: Nandina. JAPANESE: Nanten. SPANISH: Bambu celestial, Bambu sagrado, Nandina. SWEDEN: Nandina. Botany Despite its name, Nandina is not a bamboo. It is an evergreen shrub growing to 2.5 meters high, with numerous unbranched stems growing from the roots. Leaves are 2- to 3-pinnate, with narrow leaflets up to 5 centimeters long, pink to red before turning green. Flowers are small, white, in panicles, up to 30 centimeters long. Fruit is a bright red or purplish berry, each containing 1 to 3 seeds. Distribution - Recently introduced to the Philippines. - Still rare in cultivation. - Native to Asia, occurring in India, Japan, and China. Constituents • Berries contain alkaloids such as nanterine, used in research as an antidote to MDMA. • All parts of the plant are poisonous, containing hydrocyanic acid, and can be fatal if ingested. • Study has isolated an alkaloid, nantenine, with ability to block chemically induced head-twitching in mice. • Roots yield domesticine, O-methyl domesticine(nandinine), nandazurine, berberine, jatrorrhizine. The stem yields domesticine, O-methyl domesticine, berberine, jatrorrhizine, magnoflorine, menispermine, nandinine, isoboldine, nandazurine, dehydronandinine, sinoacutine, N-nornandinine, hydroxynandinine, nuciferine, dehydroisoboldine, palmatine, coptisine, columbamine, thalifendine, thalidastine, 5- hydroxy berberine, epiberberine, groenlandicine. • Study isolated a tyrosinase-inhibiting compound, 4-ß-D-glucopyranosyloxybenzoic [...]

Family • Fabaceae - Pterocarpus indicus Willd. - ROSEWOOD - Tzu tan Scientific names Pterocarpus indicus Willd. Pterocarpus pallidus Blanco Other vernacular names BURMESE: Padauk. CHINESE: Zi tan, Qing long mu, Huang bai mu, Qiang wei mu. FRENCH: Santal rouge amboine. KANNADA : Bethonne, Hanemara. MALAY: Palauk. SAMOAN: Pinati. SANSKRIT : Pitasala. TAMIL : Vengai maram. TELUGU : Peddagi. VANUATU: : Bluwota. Common names Agaña (Tag.) Odiau (Pang.) Asana (Tag.) Sagat (Ilk., Neg.) Balauning (Mang.) Tagga (Ibn.) Bital (Sul.) Tagka (Ibn.) Daitanag (Pamp.) Vitali (Lan.) Hagad (Neg.) Amboyna wood (Engl.) Kamarag (Ibn.) Malay padauk (Eng.) Naga (Pamp.) Rosewood (Engl.) Narra (Tag.) Tzu tan (Chin.) Nara (Tag.) Botany Narra is the Philippine national tree, a majestic reddish hard wood tree, growing to 33 meters nigh and 2 meters in diameter with an irregular fluted trunk. Leaves are compound, pinnate, 15 to 30 centimeters long, with 7 to 11 leaflets which ovate to oblong-ovate, and 5 to 10 centimeters long. Flowers are numerous, yellow, fragrant, and about 1.5 centimeters long, on branched, axillary panicles. Pods are disc-shaped, flat, with winged margins, hairy when young but smooth or nearly so when mature, more or less reticulate and undulate, and very shortly beaked, orbicular to obovate, including the wing 4 to 5.5centimeters long, and the wing 1 to 1.5 centimeters wide. Additional Sources and Suggested Readings (1) Pterocarpus indicus Willd. / James A. Duke. 1983. Handbook of Energy Crops. unpublished. (2) Composition and method for the prevention and treatment of asthma / FreePatentsOnLine (3) Isolation and Identification of an Antifungal Sesquiterpene Alcohol from Amboyna [...]

Family • Meliaceae - Azadirachta indica A. Juss. - HOLY TREE - Ku lian Scientific names Melia indica Brand Melia azadirachta A. Juss. Azadirachta indica A. Juss. Common names Nim (Tag., Engl.) Neem tree (Engl.) Margosa tree (Engl.) Indian Lilac (Engl.) Bead tree (Engl.) Pride of China (Engl.) Divine tree (Engl.) Holy tree (Engl.) Nimbay (Engl.) Ku lian (Chin.) Other vernacular names BENGALI: Bim, Nim, Nimgach. BURMESE: Tamaka. CHINESE: Lian shu, Lian zao zi, Yin du lian shu. FRENCH: Huile de neem, Lilas de perse, Lilas des Indes, Lilas du Japon, Margosier, Nim des Indes GERMAN: Niembaum, Nimbaum. HINDI: Balnimb, Neem, Nim, Nind. INDONESIA: Mind. KANNADA: Benvinmar. LATIN: Cortex margosae. MALAY: Mambu, Sadu MALAYALAM: Veppu. NEPALESE: Nim. NIGERIAN: Dongo yaro. PERSIAN: Azad Dirakht. SANSKRIT: Nimba, Nimbac, Nimbak. SINHALESE: Kohomba. SWAHILI: Mkilifi, Mwarubaini kamili TAMIL: Vepa. THAILAND: Cha-Tang, Khwinin, Sadao, Sadao India. VIETNAMESE: Sau-dau. YORUBA: Afoforo Oyimbo. General info A tree belonging to the mahogany family known as the "free tree" because of its ability to "free the soil." Popular in the Philippines, more for its insecticidal properties (pang-lamok) than for its medicinal applications. In India, it is considered the most useful traditional medicinal plant, and commercially beneficial as each part of the tree has some medicinal property. Botany Neem is a medium-sized tree growing to 15 meters high, with wide spreading branches forming an oval crown. Leaves are pinnately compound. The drooping leaflets are 1 centimeter long, paired, lanceolate, acuminate with serrated margins. The blade is shiny dark green on the upper surface [...]

Family • Rubiaceae - Morinda umbellata Linn. - COMMON INDIAN MULBERRY - Ji yan teng Scientific names Morinda umbellata Linn. Morinda microcephala Bartl. Common names Halon (Tag.) Nino (Tag.) Climbing noni (Engl.) Common indian mulberry (Engl.) Other vernacular names CHINESE: Ji yan teng, Yang jiao teng. KANNADA : Maddibanne, Maddihambu, Maradarasina, Poppili. MALAY : Mengkudu akar, Mengkudu hutan, Mengkudu kecil. SANSKRIT : Daruharidra, Klibapushpa, Pitadaru. TAMIL : Mancanaari, Manjanattikkodi, Mattikoddi, Noona kai, THAI:  Yo yaan. VIETNAMESE : Nhàu tán. Additional Sources and Suggested Readings (1) Sorting Morinda names / Maintained by: Michel H. Porcher, / MULTILINGUAL MULTISCRIPT PLANT NAME DATABASE (2) Antibacterial activity of Morinda umbellata L. (Rubiaceae) Leaves by Resazurin Redox Method / R. Nagaraj, M. Prakash, and N. Karmegam / Int. J. Curr. Res. Biosci. Plant Biol., 2014, 1(5): 53-57 Botany Nino is a large, diffused shrub, climbing by long, hairy, slender branches. Leaves are elliptic, 8.5 to 13 centimeters long, 3.5 to 5 centimeters wide, smooth on the upper surface, hairy beneath, and pointed at both ends. Inflorescences occur in stalkless terminal umbels about 1.5 centimeter in diameter. Corolla is almost notched, with a bearded throat; the corolla-tube is short, being less than 5 millimeters long. Fruit is compound, 2 to 2.5 centimeters in diameter, and irregularly lobed. Distribution - In Cagayan, Zambales, and Sorsogon Provinces in Luzon; and in Mindoro and Culion, In thickets and forests at low altitudes - Also occurs in India to southern China and Malaya.. Constituents - Roots yield a yellow dye. - Root-bark contains a glucoside, morindine, and the coloring [...]

Family • Combretaceae - Quisqualis indica Linn. - YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW - Shi jun zi Scientific names Quisqualis indica Linn. Quisqualis densiflora F.-Vill. Quisqualis malabarica  F.-Vill. Quisqualis pubecens Burm. f. Quisqualis spinosa Blanco Other vernacular names BENGALI: Madhumanjari. CHINESE: Xi shu shi jun zi, Mao bi jun zi, Si jun zi, Liu qiu zi. GERMAN: Indische fadenrohre. HINDI: Madhu, Malati. INDIA: Rangoon ki bel, Ranganbel, Irangummali, Rangunu mali chettu. INDONESIAN: Ceguk, Wudani, Akar dani. MALAYSIA: Wudani, Akar dani. MARATHI: Vilayati chambeli. PORTUGUESE: Arbusto-Milagroso. SPANISH: Quiscual. TAMIL: Irangun mali. THAI; Lep mue nang. URDU: Ishq penchaan. Common names Balitadham (BIS.) Bawe-bawe (Pamp.) Bonor (P. Bis.) Kasumbal (Bik.) Niog-niogan (Tag.) Pinion (Bis.) Piñones (C. Bis., Spanish) Tagarau (Tag.) Tagulo (Tag.) Talulong; (Ibn.) Talulung (Ibn.) Tanglon (Bik.) Tangolo (Tag., Bik.) Tañgulo (Bik.) Tartaraok (Bik., Ilk.) Tartarau (Iloko) Taungon (Manobo) Tangolan (Tag.) Tontoraok (Tag.) Burma Creeper (Engl.) Chinese honeysuckle (Engl.) Liane Vermifuge (Engl.) Rangoon creeper (Engl.) Yesterday, today, and tomorrow (Engl.) Shih-chun-tzu (Chin.) Botany Niog-niogan is a large climbing, woody shrub reaching a length of 2 to 8 meters. Brown hairs give the younger parts a rusty appearance. Leaves are oblong to elliptic, opposite, 7 to 15 centimeters long, rounded at the base and pointed at the tip. Flowers are fragrant, tubular, showy, first white, then becoming red, reddish-purple or orange, exhibiting the range of colors in clusters, on the same flower stalk. Fruit is narrowly ellipsoid, 2.5 to 3 centimeters long, with five, sharp, longitudinal angles or wings. Seeds are pentagonal and black. Distribution - In thickets and secondary forests throughout the [...]

Family • Arecaceae - SASA - Nypa fruticans Wurmb. - NIPA PALM - Shui ye Scientific names Nypa fruticans Wurmb. Nipa fruticans Thunb. Nipa fruticosa Lam. Nipa litoralis Blanco Shui ye (Chin.) Other vernacular names CHINESE: Lu bi. FRENCH: Palmier des marais, Palmier des marécages, Palmier nipa, Palmier d'eau. GERMAN: Attapalme, Mangrovenpalme, Nipapalme, Nypa-Palme. ITALIAN: Palma delle paludi. JAPANESE: Nippa yashi, Nippayasi. PALAUAN: Toechel. POHNPEIAN: Parem. RUSSIAN: Nipa THAI: Chaak, Lukchaak. Common names Anipa (Ibn.) Lasa (Tag.) Nipa (S.-Fil.) Pauid (Tag.) Pawid (Tag.) Pinog (It.) Pinok (Ibn.) Saga (Sbl.) Sasa (Pamp., Tag.) Tata (Ibn.) Nipa palm (Engl.) Zhu zi (Chin.) Gen info The nipa palm is one of the most important economic Philippine crops. It differs from most palm in the lack of an upright stem, trunkless, developing inflorescences at 1 meter height. The leaves are commonly use for thatching. Leaflets are used for making hats, baskets, mats, raincoats, wrappings for suman. The midribs are used for making brooms; the petioles for fuel. Botany Nipa is a monoecious palm, with stout, subterranean, trunkless and thornless rootstock. Leaves are at the ends of the rootstocks, large, rosette and compound, 5 to 10 meters long, arising from the stout underground stem (rhizome). Leaflets are numerous, rigid, lanceolate, up to 1 meter long, 2 to 7 cm centimeters wide. Male inflorescence is brown, erect, up to 1 meter high. Female inflorescence is stout, 1 meter high or less. Fruit is globose, nodding, up to 30 centimeters in diameter. Carpels are numerous, dark-brown, striate, smooth, 10 to 14 centimeters long, [...]

Family • Leguminosae - Mucuna pruriens Linn. - VELVET BEAN - Ci mao li dou Scientific names Mucuna pruriens Linn. Mucuna atropurpurea F.-Vill. Dolichos pruriens Linn. Carpopogon pruriens Roxb. Negretia pruriens Blanco Stizolobium pruriens Medic. Common names Hipoi (Bik.) Ipe (Pamp.) Lipai (Tag.) Nipai (Bis, Tag.) Nipoi (Bik.) Buffalo bean (Engl.) Cowage (Engl.) Cowhage (Engl.) Cowitch (Engl.) Mucuna (Engl.) Itchy bean (Engl.) Nescafe (Engl.) Sea bean (Engl.) Velvet bean (Engl.) Wild itchy bean (Engl.) Ci mao li dou (Chin.) Other vernacular names BENGALI: Alakusi, Alkushi. CHINESE: Hu zhao dou, Mao li dou, Gou zhao dou, Mao dou long zhao li dou. FRENCH : Poil à gratter, Pois eveque, Pois mascate (Reunion), Pois pouilleux, Pois velu. GERMAN: Juckbohne. HINDI : Bhainswalibel, Gaunch, Goncha, Jangali, Kavanch, Kiwanch, Konch. JAPANESE: Mukuna pururiensu. KANNADA : Nasagunni kaayi, Nasugunni. MALAGASY : Aga, Agy, Ahagy, Takilotra, Taky fotsy. MALAY : Kacang babi, Kacang gatal, Kekara gatal, Kara-kara gatal, Kramé. MALAYALAM: Naikkuran, Naykuruna. NEPALESE: Kaaucir, Kaause simii, Kaauso, Kothca, Kouach. ORIYA : Baidanka. PORTUGUESE : Feijão-cabeludo-da-índia, Feijão-da-flórida, Feijão-de-gado, Feijão maluco, Feijão-mucuna, Feijão-veludo, Mucuna-vilosa, Pó-de-mico. RUSSIAN: Barkhatnyj bob, Mukuna pruriens, Mukuna zhguchaia. SANSKRIT: Atmagupta, Jangali, Kandura, Kapikachu, Kapikacchu, Kundala. SINHALESE : Achariya, Achariya pala, Achariyapalle, Buchariwa, Bu-chariya, Ginipus-wel, Wanduru-me, Wel-damiya. SPANISH : Fogareté, Picapica, Chiporro. SWAHILI : Upupu. SPANISH : Dulagondi, Dulagondi, Kanduspala, Kapikacchuh, Pilliadugu. THAI : Ma mui, Ma yueang. URDU : Jangali, Jara. VIETNAMESE : Dây sắn, Đậu mèo, Đậu mèo rừng, Dây sắn, Đậu ngứa, Đậu mèo lông bạc, Ma niêu, Mắc mèo. YORUBA : Warapa, Yerepe. Botany Nipai is a climbing [...]

Family • Schizaeceae / Lygodiaceae - Lygodium circinnatum (Burm.) Swartz - RED FINGER FERN Scientific names Lygodium circinnatum (Burm.) Swartz Lygodium conforme C. Chr. Ophioglossum circinnatum Burm. Hai nan hai jin sha (Chin.) Common names Agsam (Bik.) Nitong-puti (Bik., Bis., Tag.) Nauli (Mind.) Nito (Bis., Sub.,Tag.) Nitoan (Sub.) Red finger fern (Engl.) Additional Sources and Suggested Readings (1) The Use of Medicinal Plant Species by the Temuan Tribe of Ayer Hitam Forest, Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia / I. Faridah Hanum and Nurulhuda Hamzah / PertanikaJ. Trap. Agric. Sci. 22(2): 85 - 94 (1999) (2) Ferns and Man in New Guinea / Jim Croft / Australian National Botanic Garden / based on a paper presented to Papua New Guinea Botany Society, 1982 (3) Medicinal Plants of Kadazandusun of Kuala Penyu, Sabah, Malaysia / Julius Kulip Botany Nito is a scrambling fern. Primary petioles are short or wanting. the secondary ones are 2 to 5 centimeters long. Pinnae are stalked, the sterile ones palmately lobed or dichotomous with lobed leaflets, the lobes lanceolate, 10 to 30 centimeters long, 1 to 4.5 centimeters wide; the fertile one are once or twice dichotomous with linear lobes, 1 to 10 centimeters wide, with contracted lamina. Spikes are arranged along the margin, 2 to 10 millimeters long. Spores are verruculose. Distribution - Common in the Philippines at low and medium altitudes. - Growing over shrubs and high into trees. - Also found throughout the tropics of the Old World. Parts utilized Roots, stems, leaves. Uses Folkloric - Stipes are chewed and applied to bites [...]

Family • Lygodiaceae - Lygodium japonicum (Thunb.) Swartz. - JAPANESE CLIMBING FERN - Ha ma teng Scientific names Hydroglossum japonicum Willd. Ophioglossum japonicum Thunb. ex Murray Lygodium dissectum Desv. Lygodium japonicum (Thunb.) Swartz. Lygodium pubescens Kaulf. Hai jin sha (Chin.) Common names Nitong-pula (Tag.) Nito-a-purao (Ig., Ilk.) Japanese climbing fern (Engl.) Ha ma teng (Chin.) Other vernacular names CHINESE: Luo wang teng, Tie xian teng. JAPANESE: Tsuru-shinobu. Botany Nitong-pula is similar to Lygodium flexuosum but is more delicate. It is a very slender, twining fern growing from 1 to 3 meters in length, somewhat pubescent or nearly glabrous, the dwarfed branches 2 to 4 millimeters long. Fronds are of 2 kinds (dimorphic). Sterile pinnae are 8 to 15 centimeters long, rarely longer, 2 to 4 millimeters wide. Pinnules (leaflets) are 2 to 5 centimeters on each side, the upper ones simple, sessile, often subconfluent, entire, the intermediate ones somewhat hastate and the lowest one stalked, pinnate or bipinnate (twice pinnate), all oblong to linear, 1.5 to 8 centimeters long, tripinnate, the segments relatively broader and shorter. Spikes (site of the fruiting bodies) are 1 to 6 millimeters long. Spores are verruculose. Additional Sources and Suggested Readings (1) New naphthoquinone from the root of Lygodium japonicum (Thunb.) Sw. / Lijuan Chen et al / Journal of Natural Medicines / Volume 64, Number 1 / January, 2010 / DOI 10.1007/s11418-009-0376-y (2) Study on flavonoiels and phenolic acids from the herb of Lygodium japonicum / Zhang LH et al / Zhong Yao Cai. 2008 Feb;31(2):224-6. (3) A new ecdysteroside from Lygodium japonicum [...]

Family • Schizaeceae / Lygodiaceae - Lygodium flexuosum Swartz. - MAIDENHAIR CREEPER Scientific names Lygodium flexuosum Swartz. Lygodium pinnatifidum Hook. et Baker * Lygodium pilosum Desv.. Lygodium serrulatum Blume Ophioglossum flexuosum L. Qu zhou hai jin sha (Chin.) Other vernacular names BENGALI: Miau-maka-la, Kuttijurkha, Huttigurpo. MALAYSIA: Ribu-ribu besar, ribu-ribu gajah, akar sidin GERMAN: Bogen-kletterfarn Common names Katak (Ibn.) Nitong-puti (Tag.) Nito-a-dadakkel (Ilk.) Nitu (Ibn.) Kakulung (Ibn.) Kakulung (Ibn.) Sasitang (Ilk.) Nito nga purao (Ilk.) Climbing fern (Engl.) Maidenhair creeper (Engl.) Botany Lygodium flexuosum is a climbing or scrambling fern. The dwarfed branches are up to 3 millimeters long. Pinnae are pinnate, 15 to 25 centimeters long, and sometimes bipinnate in the lower part. Pinnules are stalked, finely serrate, otherwise entire lanceolate or more commonly lobed on both sides at the base, 4 to 10 centimeters long; the fertile pinnae are shorter than the sterile one. Spikes are 2 to 10 millimeters long. Spores are verruculose. Distribution - Common and widely distributed, especially in open places in the Philippines. - Also found throughout the tropics of the Old World. Constituents - Plant yields antheridiogens, O-P-coumaryldryocrassol, tectoquinone, kaempferil, kaemferol-3-beta-D-glucosdie, beta-sitosterol and stigmasterol as main constituents. Main constituent is lygodinolide, used mainly for wound healing. - Roots yield flavonoids, quercetin, and pentahydroxyflavone-3-O-rutinoside. - Rich source of alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, and coumarin. - Study yielded saponins (27.6%), bitter principles, sterols, and triterpene alcohols. Additional Sources and Suggested Readings (1) Protective effect of Lygodium flexuosum (L.) Sw. extract against carbon tetrachloride-induced acute liver injury in rats / P J Wills, V V Asha [...]