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Posted: Jan/31/2009 8:03 PM PST
Please, I would greatly appreciate your expert help in identifying this green leafy herbal plant in the photos from my garden. Many locals claim it has universal healing properties including eradicating cancer cells, controlling high blood pressure, lowering cholesterol, treating diabetes and many more. We usually chew two leaves every day or every second day in the morning after washing them and drawing out the fibrous stem from the back of the leaf. The taste is slightly bitter. There was an article in the local Chinese newspaper featuring patients who credited their full recovery to this plant, known here only as the "South African green leafy herbal plant." It grows very easily, has tiny little white flowers and reaches heights of 4-5 metres or more. They sprout new shoots within days of planting a stem cutting. The two single mature leaves in the photo below are about 9 inches long. Do you recognise it? Any information anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated. If you would like to discuss or share anything on this, feel free to email me directly at: archiadven@hotmail.com with Herbal Plant in the subject. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you. Dr Hugo Attachments:      |
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Posted: Feb/01/2009 6:55 AM PST
What color were the flowers? What color do those green berries turn when they ripen? |
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Posted: Feb/01/2009 1:35 PM PST
Where in this plant growing (country, city , state)? |
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Posted: Feb/01/2009 5:51 PM PST
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langkawi Langkawi Island is off Malasia, so I was looking there. |
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Posted: Feb/02/2009 5:37 PM PST
This green leafy herbal plant grows easily throughout Malaysia and probably anywhere else in tropical conditions. We have over a dozen in our garden which all grow fast and healthy, even in sandy soil, from planting stem cuttings. The slightly out of focus photo is not of berries but of budding white flowers, although the flowers don't seem to bud and bloom that often. In fact, I have no plants that are flowering as such but some are already over 5 metres high. The plant is known locally because of its prolific leafiness and claimed to have remarkable healing properties. Can anyone please help identify it? Thank you for your efforts and sharing whatever you may find. I look forward to reading your enlightening responses. Cheers! Dr Hugo |
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Posted: Feb/03/2009 5:08 AM PST
I realize that drhugo posted his/her location as Langkawi, but that doesn't mean that the plant is growing there. The comment was mainly to encourage people to post the location of the plant (also good to indicate if it is a garden plant, possibly introduced, versus a wild, possibly native/naturalized plant). |
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Posted: Feb/03/2009 6:54 AM PST
Yes, this plant is growing in my garden on Langkawi Island in Malaysia. I plant it all over the place for extra greenery as well as for its healing characteristics. It grows all over the island and all over Malaysia. Can anyone help identify it? Local Chinese and Malays know this plant and treat it as medicinal and as well as chewing the leaves, they make tea from it. But nobody seems to know the name! Do you? Dr Hugo |
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Posted: Feb/03/2009 7:45 AM PST
Do you at least know of a local name for it? I assume you are trying to find the scientific name, but sometimes starting with the local name can help. Are there any plant nurseries in Malaysia that you can ask? |
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Posted: Feb/03/2009 9:40 AM PST
would you pls give the local name of this plant ? (malay and/or chinese name), maybe could have some trace to find out what it is.. |
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Posted: Feb/03/2009 11:46 AM PST
Just a guess? Jasmine (Jasminum officinale (J. sambac)) Although rarely used in Western medicine, a jasmine flower syrup for coughs and lungs was once made. The flowers make a tea that calms the nerves and increases erotic feelings. Steep two teaspoons of flowers per cup of water for 20 minutes. The dose is a quarter cup, four times a day. The East Indians do use it, chewing the leaves to heal mouth ulcers and softening corns with the juice. They also make a leaf tea to rinse sore eyes and wounds and use it as a remedy for snakebite. In traditional Chinese medicine states that jasmine clears the blood of impurities. Headaches and insomnia have been relieved with a tea made from the root along with pain due to dislocated joints and rheumatism. . The oil of the leaf is rubbed on the head to heal the eyes. The flowers of J. officinale var. grandiflorum are used to treat hepatitis, liver cirrhosis and dysentery; the flowers of J. sambac are used for conjunctivitis, dysentery, skin ulcers and tumors. Attachments:  |
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