184 THE MEDICINAL PLANTS OP THE PHILIPPINES 



calyx, fleshy, bell-shaped, 5-lobed. Stamens 5, all fertile, fixed 

 on the corolla, nearly equal in height. Style longer than 

 stamens, flattened. Stigma cleft in 2 flat leaves. Silique or 

 pod about 3° long and 2' wide, flattened, borders grooved and 

 curved doAvnward, containing a great number of seeds encircled 

 by a broad, flat, imbricated wing. 



Habitat. — Common in many parts of Luzon, in Mindanao, 

 Cebu and Paragua. 



PEDALIAOEJE. 



Pedalium Family. 

 Sesamum Indicum, L. 



NoM. VuLG. — AjonjoU, Sp.; Lit/a, Tag.; Logd, Vis.; Laf/is, 

 Pam.; Sesame', Indo-Eng. [Benne Oil, Til Oil, Jiuji/i Oil.) 



Uses. — The leaves are emollient and in the Philippines, 

 India and the Southern States of North America they are com- 

 monly used to make poultices, as a substitute for linseed. 



The decoction is prescribed internally as an emmenagogue 

 and demulcent and externally as a lotion. It has the reputa- 

 tion of stimulating the growth of the hair and is used for this 

 purpose quite commonly by the women of India. 



The seeds are emollient, laxative, diuretic and emmenagogue ; 

 the)' contain an oil to which we shall refer presently. In some 

 countries they form an article of diet ; in the Philippines they 

 are much used as a condiment. Waring reports good results 

 in amenorrhoea, adding a handful of the bruised seeds to a hot 

 sitz-bath. Two or 3 dessert-spoonfuls of the seeds eaten fast- 

 ing and washed down with a glass of water, are very efficient 

 in chronic constipation, both by their mechanical effect and the 

 • oil they contain ; being non-irritant they are especially indi- 

 cated in cases of constipation with hemorrhoids. 



The seeds contain up to 45/oof oil known in the Philippines 

 under the name of lana, an Ilocano M'ord meaning "oil." It 



