Bulbous, perennial herb, up to 70 cm tall. Bulb up to 10 cm in diameter. Flowers large, white, vanilla scented. Each flower’s tube is 14 cm or longer.

Native to warmer coastal regions of Latin America and widely cultivated and naturalized in many tropical countries.

The bulb is astringent, diuretic, emetic and expectorant.
It is used to induce vomiting and to treat swellings.
The grated bulb is used to extract larvae of skin parasites by applying pulp to the respiratory orifice of the larva in order to smother it.
The heated leaves are positioned over the spleen to reduce an hypertrophied spleen.
They are also used as an external treatment of malaria and also to treat sprains and swelling.

Hymenocallis is derived from Greek and means “membraned beauty”, a reference to its filament cup. Littoralis means “growing by the seashore”.

Tree, up to 9 m tall. Leaves large, simple, opposite, dark green, shiny and deeply veined. Flowers and fruits all year round. Botanically, the fruit is a multiple fruit, 10-18 cm long, very strong vomit-like smell (to attract fruit bats for seed dispersal). At first green, the fruit turns yellow then almost white as it ripens. It contains many seeds. Noni grows in shady forests as well as on open rocky or sandy shores, tolerant of saline soils and drought conditions. It is especially attractive to weaver ants, which make nests from the leaves of the tree. These ants protect the plant from some plant-parasitic insects. Hence, it is a mutualistic symbiosis.

Native to Southeast Asia and Australasia. Brought to Pacific islands as canoe plant by Austronesian voyagers. The species is now cultivated throughout the tropics and widely naturalized.

Nowadays, single trees are encouraged or cultivated in gardens mainly for medicinal purposes.
The curative properties of the plant parts are ascribed to the presence of medicinally active anthraquinone derivates.
The fruit contains rancid smelling capric acid and unpleasant tasting caprylic acid. It is thought that antibiotically active compounds are present.
The roots are febrifuge, tonic and antiseptic.
They are used to treat stiffness and tetanus and have been proven to combat arterial tension.
An infusion of the root is used in treating urinary disorders.
The bark is used in a treatment to aid childbirth.
Externally, the root is crushed and mixed with oil and is used as a smallpox salve.
An infusion of the root bark is used to treat skin diseases.
The roots are harvested as required and used in decoctions.
The wilted or heated leaf is applied as a poultice to painful swellings in order to bring relief.
A poultice of the leaves is applied to wounds or to the head in order to relieve headaches.
The crushed leaves, mixed with oil, are applied to the face for the treatment of neuralgia.
The leaves are harvested as required during the growing season.
The fruits are used as a diuretic, a laxative, an emollient and as an emmenagogue, for treating asthma and other respiratory problems, as a treatment for arthritic and comparable inflammations, in cases of leucorrhoea and copraemia and for maladies of the inner organs.
Liquid pressed from young fruit is snuffed into each nostril to treat bad breath and raspy voice.
It is also used in the treatment of mouth ulcers, haemorrhoids, hernia or swollen testicles, headaches, pain caused by barb of poisonous fish, removal of a splinter, childbirth, diabetes, diarrhoea and dysentery, fever, intestinal worms, filariasis, leprosy, and tuberculosis.
Young fruits are used to treat high blood pressure.
The fruits can be harvested ripe or unripe and are sometimes charred and mixed with salt for medicinal use.
The roots, leaves and fruits may have anthelmintic properties. In traditional medicine the parts used are administered raw or as juices and infusions or in ointments and poultices.

Noni is sometimes called a “starvation fruit”, implying that it was used by indigenous peoples as emergency food during times of famine. Despite its strong smell (vomit-like) and bitter taste, the fruit was nevertheless eaten, in some Pacific islands even as a staple food, either raw or cooked.

Evergreen shrub, up to 3 m tall. Closely arranged stem with many branches. Both branches and leaves are covered in fine hairs. Leaves coppery green with red splashes, flat or crinkled, with teeth around the edge, 10-20 cm long and 15 cm wide. Monoecious (separate male and female flowers on the same plant).

Native to the Pacific Islands. In tropical and subtropical America, Copperleaf is a popular outdoor plant. In some areas, it is also grown indoors. However, it must be maintained in a warm, humid, bright environment.

The roots and flowers, fresh or in decoction, are considered a remedy for haemoptysis.
The leaves are used to treat thrush.
A poultice of the leaves is used in the treatment of leprosy.
Internally, it is used as a laxative and diuretic in treating gonorrhoea.
The bark is applied as an expectorant in the treatment of asthma.

An ointment made of Copperleaf is used to treat fungal skin diseases in conventional medicine.

Herbaceous, frost-tender, perennial plant. Stolons and rhizomes, connecting plants to each other. Flowers (< 3 mm) white, born in small, rounded bunches (umbels) near the surface of the soil. The crop matures in three month and the whole plant (including the roots) is harvested manually.

Native to the wetlands in Asia. Nowadays, it grows in temperate and tropical swampy areas in many regions of the world.

Gotu kola is an outstandingly important medicinal herb that is widely used in the Orient and is becoming increasingly popular in the West.
One of its traditional Indian names is ‘Brahmi’ which means ‘bringing knowledge of the Supreme Reality’ and it has long been used in India both medicinally and as an aid to meditation.
It is a very useful tonic and cleansing herb for skin problems and digestive disorders.
In India it is chiefly valued as a revitalizing herb that strengthens nervous function and memory.
Much research has been carried out into the medicinal virtues of the plant, with very positive results. Several triterpenoid compounds have been isolated, the most important being asiaticoside, madecassoside, Asiatic acid and madecassic acid – these are considered the pharmacologically active principles for treating skin conditions. Trials have confirmed their healing for conditions such as burns, wounds, cellulitis, leprotic infections and skin ulcers.
The compounds brahmoside and brahminoside exhibit antispasmodic, antipyretic, central nervous system-depressant and hypotensive activity.
The plant has shown promising narcotic analgesic activity mediated through opioid receptors.
The ethanolic extract has shown anti-stress activity comparable to that of diazepam.
Various trials with patients suffering from venous insufficiency of the lower limbs have shown a significant difference in favour of a titrated extract of the plant for the symptoms of heaviness in the lower limbs and oedema. The venous distensibility was also improved by the extract.
An aqueous extract of the plant showed activity against the herpes simplex II virus.
The compound asiaticoside has been shown to promote healing through bacteriostatic activity and stimulation of the reticuloendothelium.
The whole plant is alterative, cardio-depressant, hypotensive, weakly sedative and tonic.
It is a rejuvenating diuretic herb that clears toxins, reduces inflammations and fevers, improves healing and immunity, improves the memory and has a balancing effect on the nervous system.
It has been suggested that regular use of the herb can rejuvenate the nervous system and it therefore deserves attention as a possible cure for a wide range of nervous disorders including multiple sclerosis.
Recent research has shown that gotu kola reduces scarring, improves circulatory problems in the lower limbs and speeds the healing process.
It is used internally in the treatment of wounds, chronic skin conditions (including leprosy), venereal diseases, malaria, varicose veins, ulcers etc. It is particularly valued for its effect upon the nervous system, being used in the treatment of conditions such as epilepsy and a range of nervous disorders including senility.
Caution should be observed since excess doses cause headaches and transient unconsciousness.
Externally, the herb is applied to a range of skin conditions as well as wounds, haemorrhoids and rheumatic joints.
The crushed leaves or extracts of the plant are applied topically in the adjunct treatment of surgical wounds and minor burns. The extract is used effectively in the treatment of keloids, leg ulcers, phlebitis, slow-healing wounds, scleroderma, lupus, leprosy, surgical lesions, striae distensile, cellulitis and aphthae. Purified extracts are known to accelerate cicatrizing and skin grafting. The plant can be harvested at any time of the year and is used fresh or dried. Another report says that the dried herb quickly loses its medicinal properties and so is best used fresh.

In agriculture, Asiatic pennywort is a potential tool to take up and translocate metals from root to shoot when grown in soils contaminated by heavy metals.

Tree, up to 10 m tall. Flowers bright yellow with a deep red center upon opening. Over the course of the day, the flowers deepen to orange and finally red before they fall. Leaves heart-shaped. “Beach Hibiscus” is commonly found growing on beaches, by rivers and in mangrove swamps. It is well adapted to grow in coastal environment in that it tolerates salt and waterlogging and can grow in quartz sand, coral sand, marl, limestone and crushed basalt.

Native to the Old World tropics (Australia, Ozeania, South and Southeast Asia). It has become naturalized in parts of the New World, such as Florida, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

The flowers and the sap of the plant are widely utilized in a variety of medicines.
The flowers are laxative.
An infusion of the leaves is used to aid in the delivery of a child.
Postpartum discharges are treated with an infusion of the leaves.
The leaves are used in treating coughs and sore throats.
They are made into a paste and used as a poultice for sores, cuts, open wounds, boils and swellings.
The bark and leaves of H. tiliaceus are used medicinally, especially to relieve coughs, sore throats and tuberculosis.
In Tonga, the bark and the young leaves are used to treat skin diseases.
The bark, on its own, is used in treating eye infections and injuries, and stomach-aches.
An infusion of the bark is taken three times if the placenta is retained after the birth of the child.
The fluid from the bark is used to promote menstruation.
The Cook Island Maoris use the bark, together with coconut bark or husk, to make an infusion used for bathing fractures.
In Fiji, the leaves are wrapped around fractured bones and sprained muscles.
Juice from the leaves is used in treating gonorrhoea.
Acetone extracts from the leaves of H. tiliaceus showed antibacterial activity.
A treatment made from the leaves, roots and bark is given for fever.

The tree “Beach Hibiscus” is closely related (same genus) to the shrub “Chinese Hibiscus” (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, #55) and to the shrub “Spider Hibiscus” (Hibiscus schizopetalus, #32).

Long-lived tree, up to 18 m. Crown with dense foliage. Grows well in full sun. It prefers clay, loam, sand and acidic soil types, with a high resistance to drought and aerosol salt (wind-borne salt as found in coastal areas). Leaves evergreen, alternate, pinnately lobed. Red and yellow flowers, 2.5 cm wide. Fruit is called a “pod”, 12-15 cm long, with hard, brown shell. The fruit has a fleshy, juicy, acidic, edible pulp.

Native to tropical Africa, but has been cultivated for so long on the Indian subcontinent that it is sometimes reported to be native there. It reached South Asia likely through human transportation and cultivation several thousand years BC. It is widely distributed throughout the tropical belt, from Africa to South Asia, Australia and Oceania. In the 16^th century, it was introduced to Mexico and to a lesser degree to South America, by Spanish and Portuguese colonists.

The bark is astringent and tonic and its ash may be given internally as a digestive. Incorporated into lotions or poultices, the bark may be used to relives sores, ulcers, boils and rashes. It may also be administered as a decoction against asthma and amenorrhea and as a febrifuge.
Leaf extracts exhibit anti-oxidant activity in the liver, and are a common ingredient in cardiac and blood sugar reducing medicines.
Young leaves may be used in fomentation for rheumatism, applied to sores and wounds, or administered as a poultice for inflammation of joints to reduce swelling and relieve pain.
A sweetened decoction of the leaves is good against throat infection, cough, fever, and even intestinal worms.
The filtered hot juice of young leaves, and a poultice of the flowers, is used for conjunctivitis.
The leaves are warmed and tied to affected areas in order to relieve swellings and pains, particularly sprains.
They are also used for bathing sores or to bathe persons suffering from measles or allergies.
The leaves and flowers are used to make a sweetened tea that is drunk by children as a remedy for measles.
They were also used in a preparation which was drunk in early Guyana as a malaria remedy.
A decoction of the flower buds is used as a remedy for children’s bedwetting and urinary complaints.
The fruit is aperient and laxative.
A syrup made from the ripe fruit is drunk in order to keep the digestive organs in good condition, and also as a remedy for coughs and chest colds.
The flesh of the fruit is eaten to cure fevers and control gastric acid.
The fruit pulp may be used as a massage to treat rheumatism, as an acid refrigerant, a mild laxative and also to treat scurvy.
Powdered seeds may be given to cure dysentery and diarrhoea.

The tamarind tree produces pod-like fruit that contains a brown, edible pulp used in cuisines around the world. The pulp is also used in traditional medicine and as a metal polish. The tree’s wood can be used for woodworking and tamarind seed oil can be extracted from the seeds.

Bushy, evergreen shrub or small tree, up to 5 m. Glossy leaves and solitary, brilliant red flowers. 5-petaled flowers are 10 cm in diameter, with prominent orange-tipped red anthers. Despite its size and red hues, which are attractive to nectarivore birds, it is not visited regularly by hummingbirds when grown in the Neotropics.

Native probably to East Asia, widely grown as an ornamental plant in the tropics and subtropics. It is not known in the wild, so that its native distribution is uncertain, an origin in some part of tropical east Asia is likely

Chinese hibiscus is a sweet, astringent, cooling herb that checks bleeding, soothes irritated tissues and relaxes spasms.
The flowers are aphrodisiac, demulcent, emmenagogue, emollient and refrigerant.
They are used internally in the treatment of excessive and painful menstruation, cystitis, venereal diseases, feverish illnesses, bronchial catarrh, coughs and to promote hair growth.
An infusion of the flowers is given as a cooling drink to ill people.
The leaves are anodyne, aperient, emollient and laxative.
A decoction is used as a lotion in the treatment of fevers.
A preparation from the leaves is used to treat postpartum relapse sickness, to treat boils, sores and inflammations.
The leaves and flowers are beaten into a paste and poulticed onto cancerous swellings and mumps.
The flowers are used in the treatment of carbuncles, mumps, fever and sores.
The root is a good source of mucilage and is used as a substitute for Marshmallow (Althaea officinalis) in the treatment of coughs and colds.
A decoction of the root is used to treat sore eyes.
A paste made from the root is used in the treatment of venereal diseases.

The flowers of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis are edible and are used in salads in the Pacific Islands.

Small tree or shrub, up to 7 m high. Leaves simple, opposite. Flowers greenish-white. Fruit is a purple drupe. The plant is extensively used in Indian traditional medicine.

Spread in tropical and subtropical regions, mostly in moist sandy soil along seacoasts and mangrove forests.

The leaves and roots are used in traditional medicine as a diuretic, stomachic and febrifuge.
The root has a warm bitter taste and agreeable smell, it is prescribed in decoction as a gentle cordial and stomachic in fevers.
The leaves are used as a galactagogue, and also to treat rheumatic arthritis; colic and flatulence; coughs, headaches and fevers.
The leaves, combined with those of Morinda citrifolia, are squeezed into water and the solution drunk twice a day to treat severe malarial fevers. A steam bath made from the leaves and young stems is breathed in as a treatment for fevers. The cooled solution is then used to bathe the body. The leaves are boiled into medicinal tea that is reputed to have analgesic effects. This home remedy is used mostly in the treatment of backaches.
A tea made from the boiled bark is used to treat neuralgia.

Related (same family) to many herbs like basil, rosemary, mint etc.

Big tree, up to 50 m tall, with a highly buttressed trunk. Compound leaves. Inhabits mangrove forests. The tree’s timber is a very durable and termite-resistant wood, making it a highly valued material. The wood can also be used to extract a dye.

Native to the Indo-Pacific. Today, it ranges from Tanzania and Madagascar through India and Australia to the Pacific Islands of Fiji and Samoa.

According to Greenpeace, large amounts of the timber sourced from illegal logging is being imported into China where are lax import rules. At the current rate of logging, the tree will be wiped out within 35 years.

Tree, noted for its fern-like leaves and flamboyant display of orange-red flowers over summer. The compound (doubly pinnate) leaves have a feathery appearance, 30-50 cm long, with 20-40 pairs of primary leaflets, each divided into 10-20 pairs of secondary leaflets.

Native and endemic to Madagascar. In many tropical parts of the world, it is grown as an ornamental tree.

The leaves, flowers, seed and bark of this plant contain a range of medicinally active compounds, though the leaves are generally the richest source of most of these compounds.
The plant is reported to have antibacterial, antidiabetic, antidiarrheal, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, antimalarial, antimicrobial, antioxidant, cardio-protective, gastro-protective, hepato-protective and wound healing activity. It is used in folk medicine to treat a range of disorders, including constipation, inflammation, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, pneumonia, and malaria.
The active compounds include flavonoids, alkaloids, saponins, sterols, beta-sitosterol, lupeol, tannins, carotenoids, and phenolic acids.
Flavonoids and triterpenes have been shown to have analgesic activities and the flavonoids are also powerful antioxidants.
The bark has medicinal properties.
An aqueous extract has shown emetic properties.
An aqueous extract of the flowers is active against roundworm.
The metabolite-rich fractions of the sequentially extracted flowers and seeds have shown antifungal activity against Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Rhizopus Batticaloa and Fusarium auxospore.
A leaf decoction presumably has anti-rheumatic effects.
In eastern Nigeria the leaves are used traditionally for treating pain.
The leaves contain flavonoids, phenolic compounds, triterpenes and sterols. A methanolic extract of the leaves has shown a significant analgesic potential.
An ethanol extraction of the leaves has been shown to exert a cardio-protective effect, at least partly due to its vasodilatory and anti-inflammatory activity. It has also shown potential for improving liver and kidney functions whilst showing no negative side effects.
An essential oil obtained from the leaves has shown fungicidal properties.

It is a non-nodulating member of the Fabaceae family.