Latin name: Acalypha hispida
Other
name(s): Cattail, gou wei hong (C),
Ind: Ekor kucing
Simplicia name: Acalyphae hispidae Flos
(flowers), Acalyphae hispida Folium (leaves)
Ekor kucing is native to Western
Asia and is usually planted as decoration in home yards and
gardens. This clump grows erect to a height of 1 – 3 meters tall. It has a brown
greenish cylindrical stem that bifurcates into two branches with a coarse
surface. The mono-foliate leaf has a long stalk and grows crosswise to each
other. The shape of the leaf is oval or egg-shaped with a sharp tip and blunted
base, serrated edges and is 12 – 20 cm long, 6 – 16 cm wide, light green in
color. The red cylindrical monocotyle flowers – resembling a cat tail - blooms out
in clusters from the base of the leaf, hanging down with a length of 20 – 50 cm
and width of 1 – 1.5 cm. Ekor kucing has small, round and hairy fruits which
are green in color with small round and whitey seeds. Ekor kucing is cultivated
by seed planting.
The leaves contain acalyphine, flavonoides, saponine and tanine. Flowers contain saponine and tanine.
MEDICINAL
PART: Flowers and leaves
THERAPEUTIC EFFECTS: Flowers: hemostatic;
diuretic. Leaves and roots: hemostatic
INDICATION: Flowers: dysentery; enteritis;
bleeding: blood in stools, hemoptysis (blood coughing), epistaxis (nasal
bleeding); ascariasis; burns; ulcers. Leaves: vitiligo (white spots on skin due
to lack of pigmentation); dysentery; hemoptysis; bleeding wounds; sprue (oral
ulceration)
DOSAGE AND USAGE: General: decoction: bring
to boil 10 – 30 grams of flowers and drink the liquid. Topical: fine grind a
sufficient amount of flowers or leaves and apply to the affected area.
Specific usage:
Vitiligo
Clean wash a handful of ekor kucing leaves and ½ thumb-size cut of zedoary (Kaempferia galangal), then grind until fine. Apply this to the white spots and cover with a bandage. Do this every day.
Bleeding wounds
Clean wash and fine grind a handful of the leaves, and apply it directly to the bleeding wound and cover with a bandage.
Bleeding gums/sprue
(a) Clean wash a sufficient amount of fresh flowers and betel nut (Areca catechu). Chew these two ingredients. While chewing you may add a little amount of ginger (Zingiber officinale), zedoary (Kaempferia galangal) and young Devil’s tree leaves (Alstonia scholaris). Swallow the sap and spit out the remains. Do this 3 – 4 times a day.
(b) Fine grind 30 grams of fresh flowers and 30 grams of palm sugar and eat this mixture three times a day until the condition gets better.
IMPORTANT NOTE
The recipes and techniques mentioned in this page are not meant to replace diagnosis and treatment of a medical practioner. Before using any of these recipes, the author recommends to consult a physician. All the recipes has been used without any side effects and are considered safe. However, since some people have more sensitive skin or digestive system than others, and since the user’s actual recipe preparation is beyond the control of the author, the author accept no liability with regard to the use of recipes or techniques contained in this page
