34 THE MEDICINAL PLANTS OF THE PHILIPPINES 



ternate, ovate, broad, entire, glabrous, palmately nerved. Pet- 

 iole long with 2 persistent lateral stipules. Flowers dioecious, 

 the male ones in panicles, the female solitary. Calyx 

 gamosepalous, dividing unequally when the flower opens. The 

 male flower has a corolla of 5-7 petals, violet-colored, concave, 

 half oval, with pubescent borders ; at its base a flat scale. 

 Stamens free, numerous, thick filaments, anthers bilocular. In 

 the female flower the perianth is the same as in the former, the 

 stamens sterile. Ovary unilocular, with 2-4 parietal placentae 

 with many ovules. Fruit as large as a man's head, with thin 

 woody pericarp and many seeds embedded within its pulp; 



PORTULACACEJE. 



Purslane Family. 

 Portulaca oleracea, L. 



Nom. Vulg. — Verdolagas, Sp.; Olasiman, Kolasbnan, Tag.; 

 Purslane, Eng. 



Uses. — The entire plant is edible, in the form of a salad or 

 as a condiment with meat or fish. The leaves are succulent 

 and acid, and the juice expressed from them is used as an eye- 

 wash to remove corneal opacities ; it is also used in superficial 

 erysipelas and other skin affections. The bruised leaves are 

 used as a poultice for abscesses, contusions and on the temples 

 for headache. The juice is given internally to check haemoptysis 

 and in diseases of the lungs and bladder ; the seeds also are 

 used in these complaints. 



Botanical Description. — A plant with prostrate stem. 

 Leaves fleshy, wedge-shaped. Flowers small, sessile, terminal, 

 pale yellow. Calyx of 2 large teeth, deciduous. Corolla, 4-5 

 petals with a notch at the end. Stamens 9-14. Style of 

 equal length with the stamens. Stigma in 4-6 divisions. The 

 seed vessel, which dehisces horizontally, contains many small, 

 heart-shaped seeds. 



Habitat. — It grows in all parts of the islands. 



