Elephantopus scaber (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

1, plant habit; 2, flower (Iskak Syamsudin)

Elephantopus scaber L.

Protologue: Sp. pl. 2: 814 (1753).

Vernacular names

• Prickly-leaved elephant's foot (En)
• Indonesia: tapak liman, tutup bumi (general), talpak tana (Madurese)
• Malaysia: tutup bumi, tapak leman (Peninsular), pepalut (Sabah)
• Philippines: dila-dila, tabatabakohan (Tagalog), kabkabron (Iloko)
• Thailand: do mai ruu lom (central), kee fai nok khuun (Loei), naat me khlaen (Surat Thani)
• Vietnam: cúc chi thiên, cỏ lưỡi mèo, dia dảm thảo.

Distribution

Widespread in tropical America, Africa, Asia and Australia; throughout South-East Asia.

Uses

E. scaber is widely used as a diuretic, febrifuge and emollient throughout South-East Asia. In Malaysia, a decoction of the leaves or roots is additionally used as a tonic and anthelmintic, and to treat coughs, asthma and venereal diseases. The fresh roots are prescribed to arrest vomiting, and the leaves are recommended for application to the abdomen to treat dropsy. In Indonesia, the roots, either pounded or in decoction, are also used as a remedy for leucorrhoea, anaemia and as a tonic during parturition, whereas the leaves are used as anthelmintic and aphrodisiac, and to treat cough, sprue and diarrhoea. In Indo-China, a decoction of the plant is used as tonic, diaphoretic and emmenagogue and to treat dyspepsia. In Thailand, besides being used as a diuretic and febrifuge, the roots are used to treat cough, malaria and parasites. In India, China, Africa and South and Central America, a decoction or infusion of the roots and leaves is used as an emollient, to treat diarrhoea, dysentery, pulmonary diseases, scabies, urethral discharges, epistaxis, jaundice, oedema and to relieve anuria and blennorrhoea.

Observations

• An erect herb up to 80 cm tall, stems rigid, appressed long-haired or scabrous.
• Leaves in a radical rosette, if cauline much smaller, oblong-obovate to spatulate, 5-38 cm × 1-6 cm.
• Glomerules terminal, generally long-peduncled, glomerule bracts generally longer than the involucral bracts.
• Flowers with corolla 7-9 mm long, bluish or purplish, sometimes white.
• Fruit about 4 mm long with pappus bristles equal and 4-6 mm long.

E. scaber occurs in grasslands, wasteland, roadsides, along fields and in forest borders, up to 1500 m altitude.

Selected sources

• Ahmad, F.B. & Holdsworth, D.K., 1994. Medicinal plants of Sabah, Malaysia. Part II. The Muruts. International Journal of Pharmacognosy 32(4): 378-383.
• Ahmad, F.B. & Holdsworth, D.K., 1995. Medicinal plants of Sabah, Malaysia. Part III. The Rungus people of Kudat. International Journal of Pharmacognosy 33(3): 262-264.
• Backer, C.A. & Bakhuizen van den Brink Jr, R.C., 1963-1968. Flora of Java. 3 volumes. Noordhoff, Groningen, the Netherlands. Vol. 1 (1963) 647 pp., Vol. 2 (1965) 641 pp., Vol. 3 (1968) 761 pp.
• 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.
• Chen, C.P., Lin, C.C. & Namba, T., 1989. Screening of Taiwanese crude drugs for antibacterial activity against Streptococcus mutans. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 27(3): 285-296.
• de Silva, L.B., Herath, W.H.M.W., Jennings, R.C., Mahendran, M. & Wannigama, G.E., 1982. A new sesquiterpene lactone from Elephantopus scaber. Phytochemistry 21(5): 1173-1175.
• Dharma, A.P., 1981. Indonesische geneeskrachtige planten [Indonesian medicinal plants]. De Driehoek, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. 168 pp.
• Hammer, M.L.A. & Johns, E.A., 1993. Tapping an Amazonian plethora: four medicinal plants of Macajó Island, Pará (Brazil). Journal of Ethnopharmacology 40: 53-75.
• Heyne, K., 1950. De nuttige planten van Indonesië [The useful plants of Indonesia]. 3rd Edition. 2 volumes. W. van Hoeve, 's Gravenhage, the Netherlands/Bandung, Indonesia. 1660 + CCXLI pp.
• Hisham, A., Pieters, L., Claeys, M., Dommisse, R., Vanden Berghe, D. & Vlietinck, A., 1992. Guaianolide glucosides from Elephantopus scaber. Planta Medica 58(5): 474-475.
• Laranja, S.M.R., Bergamachi, C.M. & Schor, N., 1991. Evaluation of the acute administration of natural products with potential diuretic effects, in humans. Memoires del Instituto Oswaldo Cruz (Rio de Janeiro) 86, Suppl. II: 237-240.
• 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.
• Nguyen Van Duong, 1993. Medicinal plants of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Mekong Printing, Santa Ana, California, United States. 528 pp.
• 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.
• Poli, A., Nicolau, M., Simoes, C.M.O., Nicolau, R.M.R. & Zanin, M., 1992. Preliminary pharmacologic evaluation of crude whole plant extracts of Elephantopus scaber. Part I: in vivo studies. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 37(1): 71-76.
• 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