Posts Tagged ‘Water’

ARA SONGSANG MERAH (ASYSTASIA) TO TREAT HAEMORRHOID

Sunday, June 6th, 2010

Ara Songsang Merah is a shrub that covers land surfaces and grows up to 15 centimetres in height.

Its stem and leaf are dark red while the flower resembles the shape of a cat’s tail, and the fruits are small and thorny.  It grows on spacious areas even at the road side and currently people plant them as ‘blankets’ and ‘hangovers.’

Ara Songsang Bunga Merah, as it is called in Malay, is scientifically known as Asystasia sp. from the Acanthaceae family. It is known to have many alternative qualities.  Highly associated as remedy for Haemorrhoid (piles) and bleeding soil. Common method of preparation is by boiling all parts of the plant in water including the roots and then sifted to drink twice a day.

In the Malay alternative medicine world, it is usually mix them with other plants like the starfruit or ‘belimbing’ (Averrhoa spp.). The mixture is believed to be highly effective to treat high blood pressure, diabetes, kidney problems and heart diseases.

Mixtures in the traditional Malay traditional sphere are prepared in a traditional pot made of earthen clay while metal base utensils are not advisable as they are believed anti-herbal and would usually deter the desired healing properties.

While boiling the mixtures, the earthen clay is left uncovered to allow the evaporation of unwanted and ‘hazardous’ substance.

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ARA DANI (RANGOON CREEPER) RELIEVES HEADACHE

Sunday, June 6th, 2010

Ara Dani, also called as Rangoon Creeper, Red Jasmine and Drunken Sailor, is a creeping plant.  The leaves are elliptic and pointed at the ends, in pairs along the stems.  The stems are hard and elastic.  Young stems are green in colour while older ones are black.

The flowers grow and bloom in bunch and clusters.  Flower buds are white and will eventually turn red when blooming and pink when near drop.  The stems are long that make them look attractively cascading.  The plant is suitable as fence decoration.

The flowers normally bloom at night and produce sweet scent.  The fruits are small, about 3cm long and black-like in colour.

The scientific name is Quisqualis indica L. Also known as the dani root, udani, redani, and the vampire root, the plant is easy to grow by branch cuttings.  Slicing the tip of the branch can also help the plant to branch out.

Kamarudin Mat-Salleh (2002) quoted from Burkill (1935) that the water that has been dipped with young Ara Dani fruits can be consumed as remedy for diarrhoea and as a vermifuge agent to get rid of worms from our body.  It is also useful to cure headaches.

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THE MULTI-PURPOSE ANGSANA (BURMESE ROSEWOOD) TREE

Sunday, June 6th, 2010

The Angsana tree is categorized as a timber plant that can reach up to 30 meters in height and the trunk measures up to 3 to 3 ½ meters in diameter.  The wood is suitable to make furniture.

The trunk base spots artistic curvy and decorative veneer surface and if angularly sliced into thick pieces can be used as unique table tops.  The trunk however will produce reddish-like resin if cut or ‘injured.’

Pterocarpus indicus is its scientific name from the Legumisosae family. Popularly known as the ‘Pokok Sena’ or ‘Pokok Sano’ in Malaysia, its leaves are pinnate and densely grown at the branch tips that make them stoop downwards.  The tree is suitable as shades.

The flowers are produced in panicles containing a few to numerous flowers, slightly fragrant and have yellow or orange-yellow petals. The fruit is a semi orbicular pod 2–3 cm diameter, surrounded by a flat 4–6 cm diameter membranaceous wing which aids dispersal by the wind. It contains one or two seeds, and does not split open at maturity; it ripens and becomes brown when dry.

The central part of the pod can be smooth, bristly or intermediate.

In the alternative medicine sphere, the Angsana has been proven effective especially the leaf, bark and resins.  The young leaves are used as remedy to help cure high fever, boils, dry skin (at the heel) and mouth ulcer.

For treating high fever, the leaves are fondled with little water and dapped onto the body.  For boils, the leaves are seared near fire for heat and applied with cooking oil and seared again near fire and patched on the boils. Resins from the bark can be used to heal dry skins at the heel by applying it on the problematic area; the bark is boiled with water and when lukewarm, the water can be gargled to treat mouth ulcers.

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