Elephantopus mollis (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Elephantopus mollis Kunth

Protologue: Humb., Bonpl. & Kunth, Nov. gen. sp. 4, ed. fol. 4: 20 (1818).

Synonyms

• Elephantopus tomentosus auct. non L.

Vernacular names

• Philippines: malatabako (Tagalog), tabtabako (Iloko), kaburon (Igorot).

Distribution

Tropical America; introduced and widely naturalized in tropical Africa and Asia. Reported for Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, Sulawesi and the Philippines.

Uses

In the Philippines, the leaves (fresh and crushed or dried and powdered) are applied to wounds as a vulnerary. A decoction of the plant is prescribed as diuretic and febrifuge. It is also reported to act as an emetic. In Hong Kong, the entire plant is used for its diuretic, antihepatic and antibronchitis properties.

Observations

• A herb up to 100 cm tall, stems whitish pilose.
• Leaves basal and cauline, elliptical-ovate or elliptical-obovate to elliptical-lanceolate, 8-22 cm × 3-7 cm.
• Glomerules terminal, generally long-peduncled, glomerule bracts generally shorter than the involucral bracts; flowers with corolla about 5 mm long, whitish or sometimes pinkish or purplish.
• Fruit 2.5-3 mm long with pappus bristles equal and 3.5-4 mm long.

E. mollis occurs in open waste places and grasslands up to 2000 m altitude.

Selected sources

• Banerjee, S., Schmeda Hirschmann, G., Castro, V., Schuster, A., Jakupovic, J. & Bohlmann, F., 1986. Further sesquiterpene lactones from Elephantopus mollis and Centratherum punctatum. Planta Medica 52: 29-32.
• Burkill, I.H., 1966. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. Revised reprint. 2 volumes. Ministry of Agriculture and Co operatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Vol. 1 (A-H) pp. 1-1240. Vol. 2 (I- Z) pp. 1241-2444.
• Hayashi, T., Koyama, J., McPhail, A.T. & Lee, K. H., 1987. Structure and absolute stereochemistry of tomenphantopin A and-B, two cytotoxic sesquiterpene lactones from Elephantopus tomentosus. Phytochemistry 26(4): 1065-1068.
• Jakupovic, J., Jia, Y., Zdero, C., Warning, U., Bohlmann, F. & Jones, S.B., 1987. Germacranolides from Elephantopus spp. Phytochemistry 26(5): 1467-1469.
• Lee, K. H., Ibuka, T., Furukawa, H., Kozuka, M., Wu, R.Y., Hall, I.H. & Huang, H. C., 1980. Antitumor agents. XXXVIII: Isolation and structural elucidation of novel germacranolides and triterpenes from Elephantopus mollis. Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences 69(9): 1050-1056.
• Li, H. L., 1978. Compositae. In: Li, H. L., Liu, T, S., Huang, T. C., Koyama, T. & DeVol, C.E. (Editors): Flora of Taiwan. Vol. 4. Epoch Publishing Co., Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China. pp. 768-965.
• Lin, C.C., Tsai, C.C. & Yen, M.H., 1995. The evaluation of hepatoprotective effects of Taiwan folk medicine "Teng Khia U"". Journal of Ethnopharmacology 45(2): 113-123.
• Lin, C.C., Yen, M.H. & Chiu, H.F., 1991. The pharmacological and pathological studies on Taiwan folk medicine VI. The effects of Elephantopus scaber ssp. oblanceolata, Elephantopus mollis and Pseudoelephantopus spicatus. American Journal of Chinese medicine 19(1): 41-50.
• McPhail, A.T., Onan, K.D., Lee, K. H., Ibuka, T., Kozuka, M., Shingu, T. & Huang, H. C., 1974. Structure and stereochemistry of the epoxide of phantomolin, a novel cytotoxic sesquiterpene lactone from Elephantopus mollis. Tetrahedron Letters 32: 2739-2741.
• Perry, L.M., 1980. Medicinal plants of East and Southeast Asia. Attributed properties and uses. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States & London, United Kingdom. 620 pp.
• Protacio, D.B., 1977. Evidence of cadang cadang disease as coming from the weed Elephantopus mollis. Philippine Phytopathology 13: 1-2.
• Quisumbing, E., 1978. Medicinal plants of the Philippines. Katha Publishing Co., Quezon City, the Philippines. 1262 pp.
• Walker, E.H., 1976. Flora of Okinawa and the southern Ryukyu Islands. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C., United States. 1159 pp.

Main genus page

• Elephantopus (Medicinal plants)

Authors

• Ng Lean Teik