Botany
Kampanilya is a vigorous, smooth, slightly hairy shrub growing 2 to 4 meters high. Leaves are opposite, in whorls of 3 or 4, although the upper ones may be scattered, lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, 8 to 12 centimeters long, 2.5 to 4 centimeters wide, pointed on both ends. Flowers are yellow and short-stalked. Calyx-teeth are green, somewhat spreading, lanceolate and 1 to 1.5 centimeters long. Corolla is about 7 centimeters long; the slender part of the tube being about 3 centimeters long; the tube inflated up to 2 centimeters in diameter; the lobes ovate or oblong-ovate, spreading, rounded and about 2 centimeters long.

Distribution
– Cultivated as ornamental garden plant.
– Occasionally semi-established in wild in thickets near dwellings or settlements.
– Introduced from tropical America.

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings

(1) Evaluation of wound healing activity of Allamanda cathartica. L. and Laurus nobilis. L. extracts on rats / Shivananda Nayak et al / BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2006, 6:12doi:10.1186/1472-6882-6-12

(2) Reversible antifertility effect of aqueous leaf extract of Allamanda cathartica L. in male laboratory mice / A. Singh & S. K. Singh / Andrologia, Volume 40 Issue 6, Pages 337 – 345

(3) Plumieride from Allamanda cathartica as an antidermatophytic agent / T. N. Tiwari et al / Phytotherapy Research Volume 16 Issue 4, Pages 393 – 394 / 10.1002/ptr.967 DOI

(4) Gastrointestinal Effects of Allamanda cathartica Leaf Extracts / Peter A. Akah and Veronica N. Offiah / Summary Pharmaceutical Biology • 1992, Vol. 30, No. 3, Pages 213-217 / DOI 10.3109/13880209209054001

(5) Evaluation of the anti-proliferative effect the extracts of Allamanda blanchetti and A. schottii on the growth of leukemic and endothelial cells / Dionezine de F. Navarro Schmidt et al / J Pharm Pharmaceut Sci (www.cspscanada.org) 9(2):200-208, 2006

(6) Bioactive Iridoids and a New Lignan from Allamanda cathartica and Himatanthus fallax from the Suriname Rainforest / Maged S Abdel-Kader et al / J. Nat. Prod., 1997, 60 (12), pp 1294–1297 / DOI: 10.1021/np970253e

(7) 5,9-Nonadecadienoic acids in malvaviscus arboreus and allamanda cathartica / Néstor M Carballeira and Clarisa Cruz / Phytochemistry, Volume 49, Issue 5, 5 November 1998, Pages 1253–1256

(8) Phytochemical studies on Allamanda cathartica L. using GC-MS / Prabhadevi V, Sahaya Sathish S, Johnson M*, Venkatramani B3, Janakiraman N / Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine (2012)S550-S554

(9) Thrombolytic Activity and Preliminary Cytotoxicity of Five Different Fractions of Methanol Extract of Allamanda cathartica Leaf / Rehan Sarker, Tasnuva Sharmin, Sharmin Reza Chowdhury and Farhana Islam / Journal of Applied Pharmaceutical Science 02 (07); 2012: 129-132/ DOI: 10.7324/JAPS.2012.2717

(10) Yellow Bell Seeds (Allamanda cathartica L.)Crude Extract as Fuel / Mac Michael Rado , Vanessa Doctor, Preslito Valledor, Catherine dela Cruz Loreto Gopez III / Investigatory Project Collection

(11) Prevalence of multidrug resistance in human pathogenic Staphylococcus aureus and their sensitivity to Allamanda cathartica L. leaf extract / Md. Al Nayem Chowdhury, Md. Nazmul Hossain, Md. Mahbubur Rahman, Md. Ashrafuzzaman / DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/icpj.v2i11.16525 / International Current Pharmaceutical Journal, October 2013, 2(11): 185-188

Constituents
– Phytochemical studies revealed the main constituents to be alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins and carbohydrates.
– Contains allamandin, a toxic iridoid lactone.
– As the name implies, the leaves, roots and flowers may be used in preparing a powerful cathartic.
– Milky sap is considered antibacterial, possibly anticancer.
– Study of phospholipid fatty acid composition yielded 7-Methyl-5,9-octadecadienoic acid.
– Phytochemical analysis of an ethanolic leaf extract yielded 28 different compounds, the major constituents of which were 9,12,15-octadecatrienoic acid (Z,Z,Z)-, n-hexadecanoic acid, 3-O-methyl-d-glucose and 9,12,15-octadecatrienoic acid ethyl ester (Z,Z,Z)- (10.58%). The ethanolic stem extract of A. cathartica showed the presence of 26 different bioactive compounds, the major ones 3-O-methyl-d-glucose, 2-furancarboxaldehyde 5-(hydroxymethyl)-, n-hexadecanoic acid and 9,12,15-octadecatrienoic acid (Z,Z,Z)-.

Properties
– In the Philippines, whole plant is considered poisonous.
– Purgative, cathartic with hydrogogue effect, healing, diuretic.

Parts utilized:
Leaves and bark.

Uses
Folkloric
– The plant draws its name from Allamand, who made the plant known a century and a half ago, who used a cathartic infusion of the leaves for colic.
– Infusion of leaves in moderate doses is an excellent cathartic; in considerable doses, it is purgative and a violent emetic.
– The bark and latex in small doses are considered cathartic; in large doses, poisonous.
– Decoction of the bark is a hydragogue; infusion of leaves is cathartic.
– Decoction of leaves in small doses used as antidote for poisoning.
– Extract of leaves used for colic and as laxative; in large doses causes diarrhea and vomiting.
– In Trinidad, used for treating malaria and jaundice.
– In Guiana, the latex is used as a purgative and employed for colic.
– In Surinam, the plant is used as a cathartic.

Study Findings
• Purgative Effect: Findings suggest AC leaf extracts can elicit a purgative effect by increasing intestinal motility, in part, via muscarinic receptor activation.
• Wound Healing: The study of aqueous extract showed significant wound healing activity in wound models studies with decrease epithelizations time, high skin breaking strength, and increase in granulation tissue weight and hydroxyproline content. The Allamanda leaf extract possesses better wound healing activity than the Laurus nobilis.
• Reversible Antifertility Effect: The study on the oral administration of aqueous leaf extract of AC showed reversible suppression of fertility in male mice – organ weight,, testosterone levels, sperm parameters among others – without detectable toxic effects.
• Antidermatophytic: Plumeride, an active principle isolated from the leaves of AC showed strong fungitoxicity against some dermatophytes causing dermatomycosis to both humans and animals.
• Purgative Effect : Study showed the aqueous extract of leaves of Ac could produce a purgative effect by increasing intestinal motility, partly through muscarinic receptor activation.
• Anti-Proliferative / Cytotoxic: Study evaluated the anti-proliferative effect of A. blanchetti and A. schottii on K562 leukemic cells. Results showed both plants exhibited cytostatic and cytotoxic activity, the most active were located in the roots.
• Antimicrobial: Study of leaf extract of A. cathartic showed antimicrobial activity – the chloroform extract showed significant activity against Shigella dysenteriae, moderate activity against B subtilis, P aeruginosa and a niger.
• Bioactive Iridoids / Cytotoxic: Study of ethanol extract of A cathartica and H fallax isolated a weakly cytotoxic isoplumericin and plumericin.
• Synergistic Anti-Inflammatory Activity: Study investigated the anti-inflammatory activity of a methanolic extract of Allamanda cathartica and Piper nigrum in a carageenan-induced paw edema model. Results showed a synergistic interaction between A. cathartica and P. nigrum.
• Thrombolytic Activity / Leaves: Study evaluated a crude methanolic extract of leaves and its fractions for possible thrombolysis and cytotoxic activities. Results showed clot lysis activity. In brine shrimp lethality bioassay, fractions showed significant cytotoxic activity.
• Seeds Crude Extract as Fuel: Study evaluated the possibility of using yellow bell seeds crude extract as fuel. Results showed a potential for the crude extract to be a substitute for kerosene and alcohol.
• Antiviral Activity: Study evaluated crude hexane extracts from stem and leaf for antiviral activity on the replication of Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV) in Spodoptera frugiperda cell line (Sf9). Results showed the extract affected DNA replication of AcMNPV in Sf9 cell line when the extract was added at 1 h post- infection.
• Anti-MDR Staphylococcus aureus: Study evaluated the prevalence of multidrug resistance S. aureus in human clinical sample and its sensitivity to A. cathartica leaf extract. Results showed the leaf extract would be useful in developing drugs that can reduce the prevalence of MDR Staphylococcus aureus causing clinical infection in human.

Availability
Wild-crafted.
Ornamental cultivation.