MALUNGGAY (Moringa olifera)

Good morning everyone. Another tree with medicinal value found in the Philippines. I’m sure if many have this plant you can use it to cure some ailments. There are a total of 96 Philippine medicinal trees under 83 genera and 38 families. I want to share the most seen trees here.

Malunggay is an exotic species but grows well throughout the Philippines. The tree can grow well throughout the Philippines. This tree can grow as high as 3 to 5 meters in a span of 1 year and can reach a height of about 15 to 30 meters without cutting.

Medicinal Value:

■ Decoction of leaves used for hiccups, asthma, gout, back pain, rheumatism, wounds, and sores.

■ Pods are cure for intestinal parasitism.

■ Leaves and pods are helpful in increasing breast milk in the breastfeeding mothers. 6 tables of leaf powder will provide nearly all the woman’s daily iron and calcium needs during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

■ Pounded roots are used as poultice for inflammatory swelling.

■ The fruit could increase the sperm count.

■ The root bark has sex-hormone related properties.

KALINGAG (Cinnamomum mercadoi Vidal Lauraceae)

Good morning everyone. Another tree with medicinal value found in the Philippines. I’m sure if many have this plant you can use it to cure some ailments. There are a total of 96 Philippine medicinal trees under 83 genera and 38 families. I want to share the most seen trees here.

Kalingag is a small-to medium-sized tree with relatively thick, aromatic bark. It reaches a diameter of 60 cm or more. The bark is gray, without fissures or cracks and covered irregularly with corky pustules, which give it a slightly rough appearance. The leaves are smooth, opposite, elliptical, 7-14 cm long and 3-6.5 cm wide; apex is acute, tip is rounded, texture is leathery; both faces are glabrous, the upper face is shiny while the lower has a glaucous ochre bloom.

Medicinal Value:

■ The bark, when masticated and taken internally, helps digestion.

■ It is also used for flatulence (gas accumulation in the alimentary canal) and as an expectorant.

■ It is used for tuberculosis and as a remedy for headaches and rheumatism.

CABALLERO (Caesalpinia pulcherrima)

Good morning everyone. Another tree with medicinal value found in the Philippines. I’m sure if many have this plant you can use it to cure some ailments. There are a total of 96 Philippine medicinal trees under 83 genera and 38 families. I want to share the most seen trees here.

It is an erect, small and smooth tree reaching 1.5 to 5 m high. It is armed with scattered spines along the branches. The red and yellow, few flowered clusters are borne on terminal portions.

Medicinal Value:

■ Fresh leaves are applied externally to relieve rheumatism; heated and applied externally, remedy stomach pains.

■ A decoction from the crushed seeds is used as an emetic and believed to be a remedy for dysentery.

■ roots are diuretic and useful in cases of stone formation in the bladder.

■ The juice of the stem and roasted fruit are used for eye disease.

■ The finely powdered leaves are given as uterine tonic to women immediately after giving birth.

Photo courtesy: aves