136 THE MEDICINAL PLANTS OE THE PHILIPPINES 



The Pharmacopoeia of India gives 2 official formulae, a powder 

 and a cataplasm. Tlie powdered leaf is given internally in 

 doses of 0.30 to 1.50 grams and is applied locally to superficial 

 ulcers. 



Botanical Description. — Plant herbaceous with reniform 

 or heart-shaped leaves, forming a sort of funnel, dotted with 

 little hairs, dentate with white tips. Petioles very long, en- 

 sheathing each other by 2 wings at their bases. Flowers 3-4, 

 sessile, springing directly from the root, greenish-white, grow- 

 ing in horizontal rows on either side of a short, common pedun- 

 cle. Common involucre of 2-3 leaflets. Calyx adherent, flat- 

 tened, faintly toothed. Corolla, 5 small petals, ovate. Stamens 

 5, equal in height, inserted on the receptacle, alternating with 

 the petals. Filaments short. Anthers globose, cleft at the 

 base in 2 diverging parts. Ovary inferior, cordate, much flat- 

 tened. Styles 2, short. Stigmas simple. Fruit truncate, oval, 

 downy, indehiscent, marked with furrows, with 2 compartments 

 each containing a seed inserted on the wall. 



Habitat. — Grows in shady and moist places. Blooms in 

 July. 



Oarum copticum, Benth. [C. ajowan, DC; Ammi copticum, 



L.; A. fflauoifolium, Blanco; Dauous optivm, Pers.; 



D. anisodorus, Blanco.) 



NoM. VuLG. — Lamudio, Damoro, T&g. ; Lamudio, Vis.; Cara- 

 way, Eng. 



Uses. — The fruit, of which both form and taste remind one 

 of anise, is official in the Pharmacopoeia of India as a carmina- 

 tive, stimulant and antispasmodic. . It is indicated in flatulent 

 colic, atonic dyspepsia and diarrhoea and gives very good results. 

 It has been used in cholera, but is of little value in that disease. 

 In moderate doses it increases salivary and gastric secretion. 



The P. of India contains the 2 following official formulae : 

 Oleum — obtained from the fruit by distillation ; is colorless 



