Common Name:

General Information

Fatoua villosa is a monoecious, annual or perennial, ascending or erect, often half-woody herb up to 100 cm tall, without latex; stem with hooked hairs[].
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a medicine.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

E. Asia - China, Japan, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia to New Guinea, northern Australia and the western Pacific.

Habitat

Dry thickets, grassy places, on walls, stony sites and cliffs at elevations up to 1,200 metres. It may form a carpet of growth in light secondary forest[]..

Properties

Weed Potential	Yes
Medicinal Rating
Habit	Annual
Height	0.70 m
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

The plant has escaped from cultivation and become naturalized in the United States, where it is likely to become a weed[].
Female flowers of Fatoua villosa predominate in inflorescences positioned in the lower and middle parts of the stem, male ones in those of the upper parts[].

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

The roots are depurative, diuretic, emmenagogue and febrifuge[]. A decoction is used as a treatment against fevers. An infusion is prescribed to treat irregular menstruation and as a diuretic[]. The crushed and roasted roots are used to prepare a depurative medicine for women after childbirth[].
A decoction of the roots is an effective treatment for swollen gums when used as a gargle[]. The ground yellow roots, known as 'greges otot', used to be smeared on the legs of children with weak legs[].

The chewed leaf is considered a remedy against stomach-ache[].

The methanol root extract has been found to contain phototoxins that possess a UV-A light activated anti-microbial activity[]. The compound responsible for this is the furanocoumarin 5-methoxypsoralen (5-MOP or bergapten)[]. Dermatosis may arise after plants containing linear furanocoumarins come into direct contact with the skin, if this is immediately followed by exposure to UV-A light, e.g. from the sun[]. Due to this mechanism of DNA synthesis inhibition, several psoralens are used in therapy for the treatment of psoriasis. Therapy might consist of application of psoralens orally or locally, followed by irradiation with UV-A light[].

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed -

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