Common Name:

General Information

Picria fel-terrae is an annual herb, growing up to 1 metres tall, though often smaller[, ]. Its stems are laxly branched, erect or prostrate and often rooting at the nodes[].
Harvested from the wild for its use in traditional medicine, the plant is also often cultivated in gardens and sold fresh on the markets in Indo-China and China[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

E. Asia - southern China, India through Myanmar, Malaysia to Indonesia and the Philippines.

Habitat

A rare to rather common herb, occurring on forest slopes, or shady forest edges, from sea-level up to 900 metres[]

Properties

Medicinal Rating
Habit	Annual
Height	0.40 m
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Wild

Cultivation Details

Not known

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

Picria felterrae is widely used medicinally in eastern Asia and some research into its medicinal properties has been carried out[]. A number of active constituents have been isolated from the plant, including a range of flavonoids, the glycoside curangin and a series of triterpene saponoids[].
Curangin seems to possess similar properties to digitalin (obtained from Digitalis spp.) and also is a heart-stimulant[]. It is only slightly poisonous[].
Some of the triterpene saponins acted as inhibitors on both the classical and alternative pathways of the complement system, with picfeltarraenin II exhibiting the highest inhibitory activity[].
An ethanol extract of the dried plant showed antibacterial activity against Proteus vulgaris and Staphylococcus aureus and antiviral activity against herpes simplex 1[]. It also inhibited the classical pathway of the complement system[].

The fresh leaves are very bitter and are generally considered aperient, appetizer, diuretic, emmenagogue, stimulant to the intestines, stomachic and sudorific[]. Macerated in alcohol, the leaves are considered to be a tonic[].
A decoction of the plant is said to improve the appetite and is taken to treat a wide range of complaints, particularly those related to the digestive system such as stomach-ache, colic, nausea and liver complaints[]. The whole plant is also used for treating amenorrhoea, fever, herpes infections, lumbar pains and tumours[].
A poultice of the pounded leaves is applied to wounds, itchy skin and other skin diseases[].

The sap or a decoction of the plant is considered a vermifuge for children[].

The plant is often used in combination with other herbs. Combined with gotu kola (Centella asiatica) it is used to treat whooping cough and tightness of the chest[]. Combined with Hedyotis capitellata, it is applied to snakebites[].

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed -

Add a Comment:

If you have any useful information about this plant, please leave a comment. Comments have to be approved before they are shown here.

Name:

Email(Private):

Message:

Captcha: a square has how many sides?