Botanical Name Plant's Common Name Plant Family   

   MS017 : Waltheria americana L.

Plant Category : Shrubs

Melghat's Flora's Serial No. : 50

Synonym : Waltheria indica L.; Waltheria africana Schum. & Thonn.; Waltheria americana var. densiflora Schum.; Waltheria americana var. elliptica (Cav.) Schum.; Waltheria americana var. indica (L.) K. Schum.; Waltheria americana var. subspicata K. Schum.; Waltheria angustifolia L.; Waltheria arborescens Cav.; Waltheria corchorifolia Pers.; Waltheria elliptica Cav.; Waltheria erioclada DC.; Waltheria guineensis Schum. & Thonn.; Waltheria indica var. americana (L.) R. Br. ex Hosaka.; Waltheria indica var. sahelica Roberty Waltheria makinoi Hayata.; Waltheria microphylla Cav.; Waltheria obtusa Willd. ex Steud.; Waltheria pauciflora Hochst. ex Mast.; Waltheria pedunculata Willd. ex Steud.; Waltheria pyrolifolia Gray.; Waltheria wildii Suess.;

Plant Common Name : Sleepy Morning, velvet leaf, marsh-mallow, monkey bush, boater bush, leather coat, buff coat

Plant Family : Sterculiaceae

Description : Erect, branching herbs or under shrubs; densely stellate-tomentose all over. Leaves 2-5 x 1-2.5 cm, elliptic-ovate to oblong, base cordate, margin serrate, apex rounded, venation impressed above and prominent beneath; petiole to 2.3 cm long. Flowers in axillary and terminal subsessile clusters. Calyx tube 2-4 mm long, campanulate; lobes 5. Petals 5, yellow, 4-5 mm long, obovate-obtuse. Stamens 5, connate below. Ovary villous, 1-celled; ovules 2; style c.1.5 mm long; stigma penicillate. Capsule 3-4 x 2 mm, obovoid, 2-valved, enclosed in calyx. Seed 1, c. 2 mm long, obovoid.

Plant Location in Melghat : On hill slopes

Medicinal Use / Activity : Bark is used to cure a sore throat. Juice from the tap root is combined with Noni and Olena to help cure colds. Flowers, buds, and older leaves and bark from the tap root are used in a concoction to treat asthma. Pain, inflammation, conditions of inflammation, Diarrhea, dysentery, conjunctivitis, wounds, abscess, epilepsy, convulsions, anemia, erectile dysfunctions, bladder ailments and asthma.

Plant's Phytochemicals : COMPOUNDS: (-)-epicatechin; quercetin; kaempferol;

ACTIVE COMPOUNDS (4):

Quercetin;

Kaempferol;

Catechin;

Epicatechin;

Plant's Current Status : Not common

Plant's Cross Database Reference : 259142

Reference : Dhore M. A. (1984) The flora of melghat tiger reserve - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23608240 - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378874198000142

Reference : ~ Jennifer L. McCracken, Sreenivas P. Veeranki, Bill T. Ameredes, William J. Calhoun; "Diagnosis and Management of Asthma in Adults - A Review"; JAMA (2017); 318(3): 279-290 PMID : 28719697

~ Zongo F, Ribuot C, Boumendjel A and Guissou I; "Botany, Traditional uses, phytochemistry and pharmacology of Waltheria indica L. (syn. Waltheria americana): A Review"; J Ethnopharmacol (2013); 148(1): 14-26 PMID : 23608240

~ Chen S; "Natural products triggering biological targets - a review of the anti-inflammatory phytochemicals targeting the arachidonic acid pathway in allergy asthma and rheumatoid arthritis."; Curr Drug Targets (2011); 12(3): 288-301 PMID : 20955151

~ Park HS, Kim SR, Kim JO and Lee YC; "The roles of phytochemicals in bronchial asthma"; Molecules (2010); 15(10): 6810-34 PMID : 20924320

~ Balaji Kasirajan, Rajadurai Maruthamuthu, Vidhya Gopalakrishnan, Krithika Arumugam, Hudson Asirvatham, Vidya Murali, Ramya Mohandass and Anusha Bhaskar; "A database for medicinal plants used in treatment of asthma"; Bioinformation (2007); 2(3): 105-106 PMID :

~ J. Lenin Bapuji and S. Venkat Ratnam; "Traditional Uses of Some Medicinal Plants by tribals of Gangaraju Madugula Mandal of Visakhapatnam District, Andhra Pradesh"; Ethnobotanical Leaflets (2009); 13: 388-98 PMID :

~ Dhore MA and Joshi PA; "Flora of Melghat Tiger Reserve"; Directorate, Project Tiger, Melghat (1988); PMID :

Kingdom : Plantae - Plants
Phylum : Tracheophyta
Subkingdom : Tracheobionta - Vascular plants
Superdivision : Spermatophyta - Seed plants
Division : Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
Class : Magnoliopsida - Dicotyledons
Subclass : Dilleniidae
Order : Malvales
Family : Sterculiaceae - Cacao family
Genus : Waltheria L. - waltheria
Species : Waltheria indica L. - uhaloa

Waltheria indica L. - uhaloa