Gen info
- Trichodesma is a genus of flowering plants in the borage family, Boraginaceae, which has 38 species distributed in tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Australia.(16)
- Taxonomy:The species was first published as Borage zeylanica by Nicolaas Laurens Burman in 1768. Robert Brown transferred it into Trichodesma, which was retained only until 1882. From there it went on a taxonomic wanderlust from Trichodesma to Pollichia to Boraginella to Borraginoid. Despite these many travels, Brown's placement is currently accepted. (17)
- Etymology:The genus name Trichodesma derives from Greek words thrix or thrkhos, meaning "hair" or "hair-like", and desme, meaning "a band or bundle", referring to the bundle of hair-liike structures on the anthers. The specific epithet zeylanicum refers to Ceylon or Sri Lanka), referring to the location of the type specimen. (21)

Botany
• Dilang-usa is an erect, branched and hairy annual herb, 30 to 70 centimeters in height. Leaves are hairy, oblong to lanceolate, 5 to 12 centimeters long, on short stalks, pointed at both ends. The hairs on the upper surface of the blade arise from tubercles. Flowers are borne on long stalks, in axillary or terminal racemes, of four or five flowers. Calyx is densely hairy, about 1 centimeter long in the flower. Corolla is pale blue, about 1.3 centimeters in diameter.

• Densely bristly-hairy annual herb to 1 m. Leaves narrowly elliptic. Flowers becoming nodding, in terminal 1-sided bracteate inflorescences. Sepals bristly hairy, enlarging in fruit. Corolla 7-9 mm (shorter than our other Trichodesma spp.), scarcely exserted from the sepals; lobes pale blue to lilac or pinkish.  Nutlets 4, smooth and shiny, usually mottled with grey and brown on the outer surface. (22)

Distribution
- Native to the Philippines.
- A weed found in cultivated areas and waste places at low altitude.
- Found in Cagayan, Ilocos Norte, Pampanga, Rizal and Quezon Provinces in Luzon.
- Also native to Angola, Assam, Burundi, Comoros, DR Congo, Eswatini, Ethiopia, India, Jawa, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Lesser Sunda Is., Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Myanmar, New Guinea, New South Wales, Northern Provinces, Northern Territory, Queensland, Rwanda, South Australia, Sri Lanka, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam, Western Australia, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe. (14)
- Described as a serious late weed in Zimbabwe. It can compete with the latter stages of crop growth. It can dominate river borders, fallow fields, and other disturbed ground and make land preparation difficult. (20)

Constituents
- Yield a low toxic alkaloid supinine.
- Analysis of crude methanolic extract yielded four essential minerals: iron 58.53 mg/kg, manganese 47.5 mg/kg, magnesium 3.43 mg/kg, copper 3.28 mg/kg, and ash value of 23.46%. Analysis also yielded abundant calcium oxalate crystal and nitrate. (12)
- Study of T. zeylanicum seed oil yielded fatty acids, including 12-hydroxyoctadec-cis-9-enoic acid (ricinoleic acid, 22.0%), 7-(2-octacyclopropen-1-yl)heptanoic acid (malvalic acid, 8.2%) and 8-(2-octacyclopropen-1-yl)octanoic acid (sterculic acid, 7.8%). (18)

Properties
- Extremely unpleasant to handle because of bulbous-based spiny hairs that break off in the skin when the plant is handled.
- Flower considered sudorific and pectoral.
- Leaves are diuretic, emollient, demulcent and diuretic.
- Seeds contain 30% oil.
- Roots considered analgesic and wound healing.
- Studies have suggest antioxidant, wound healing, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory properties.

Parts used
Leaves, roots, oil.

Uses
Edibility
• Leaves are edible, cooked. Young leaves and shoots are chopped and cooked with other vegetables such as amaranth or peas, coconut milk or goundnut paste added, and served with rice. (Harvested with care because of irritating hairs). (23)
• In Malawi, leaves cooked as a side dish.
Folkloric
• Leaves are used as emollient poultice.
• In Ayurveda, used for treatment of leucoderma and piles.
• Powdered root applied to painful ulcers.
• In Tanzania, oil is used for its emollient and soothing properties. Used for tonsillitis, coughs, stomachache, and poisoning. (•) Boiled shoots used for treatment of cough. Powdered stem bark boiled in water used for treatment of tuberculosis. (n)
• In Malawi, used for stomach ailments and indigestion. Infusion of leaves and roots used for intestinal worms, coughing, chest complaints, itching and throat pains. Root scraping used for wound dressing.
• In Madagascar, decoction of leaves used as emollient, demulcent and diuretic. Decoction of flowers used as sudorific and diuretic. Externally, powdered root used as analgesic when applied to wounds and skin infections.
• Roots used for bilharzia, swelling of lymph glands, coughing, toothache and abdominal pains.
• In southern India, leaf of the plant is mixed with the rhizome of Glycyrrhiza glabra, stem of Canna indica and stem bark of Punica granatum, then ground into a paste and applied topically to heal wounds. (4)
• In Western Ghats, fresh leaves are roasted with Allium cepa in coconut oil and made into curry. The curry is taken before meals twice daily for four to five days to treat bleeding piles.
• In Ethiopia, roots used for treatment of infertility in women. (15)
• Green leaves chewed and used as poultice for fresh and infected wounds, boils, and snakebites. Plant is diuretic. Decoction used for treatment of fever and dysentery. Ash of burnt plants used as ingredient in formulations for treating cough and scabies. Leaves used to prevent stillbirths.(23)
Others
• Pesticide: Aqueous extracts of stems, leaves and fruits reported to be very toxic to cockroaches. (11)
• Stems used as fire sticks. (23)

Toxicity concerns
- There are reports of it being poisonous to stock.
- Reported as poisonous to stock in Australia (Watt and Breyer-Branwijk, 1962). (20)

Studies
• Wound Healing / Root: Study evaluated in vivo wound healing effect of a herbal ointment formulated with 15% w/w Trichodesma zeylanicum methanolic root extract in excision wounds in albino rats. Results showed wound healing potential. Study suggested further evaluation to assess the potential accumulation of low toxic alkaloid supinine in wound healing. (7)
• Anti-Inflammatory / Alkane: Study evaluated anti-inflammatory activities of isolated phytoconstituents in arthritis models in rats. Results showed alkanoic acid significantly inhibited carrageenan-induced acute arthritis. Alkane also suppressed the development of chronic arthritis induced by CFA. Alkane was the major phytoconstituent reported in the in vivo studies. (8)
• Antioxidant / Free Radical Scavenging Potential / Roots: Study of T. zeylanicum powdered root extract showed good scavenging ability compared to standard ascorbic acid. Reducing power assay showed concentration dependent reducing ability and were higher compared to ascorbic acid. Results suggest a potential source of antioxidants relevant to wound treatment. (9)
• Antimicrobial / Leaves: Study evaluated the antimicrobial activity of T. zeylanicum leaves against selected pathogenic microbes. The crude extract showed activity against S. aureus, P. aeruginosa, S. typhi, and dermatophyte T. mentagrophytes. (12)

Availability
- Wildcrafted.
- Seeds in the cybermarket. (EB) (EOz)

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(1)
Trikantaka, Indian Medicinal Plants
(2)
Taxonomic perspective of plant species yielding vegetable oils used in cosmetics and skin care products / African Journal of Biotechnology, Vol. 4, No. 1, January 2005, pp. 36-44
(3)
Chewa medical botany: a study of herbalism in southern Malawi / Brian Morris
(4)
Herbal medicines for wound healing among tribal people in Southern India: Ethnobotanical and Scientific evidences / Ayyanar M, Ignacimuthu S / International Journal of Applied Research in Natural Products Vol. 2(3), pp. 29-42, Sep-Oct 2009
(5)
Pyrrolizidine alkaloids in plants used in the traditional medicine of Madagascar and the Mascarene islands / E Roeder, H Wiedenfeld / Pharmazeutisches Institut der Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, Bonn, Germany
(6)
Ethnomedicinal plants used by Kanikkars of Agasthiarmalai Biosphere Reserve, Western Ghats / S. Lalitha Rani, V. Kalpana Devi, P. Tresina Soris, A. Maruthupandian and V.R. Mohan / Journal of Ecobiotechnology 2011, 3(7): 16-25
(7)
Evaluation of the Wound Healing Potential of Trichodesma zeylanicum (Burm. f.) Formulation in Excision Wounds in Albino Rats / Frank Ngonda / Annual Research & Review in Biology, 2014; 4(6): pp 828-839 / DOI: 10.9734/ARRB/201/6741
(8)
Anti-inflammatory activity of alkanoids and triterpenoids from Trichodesma amplexicaule Roth. / Abstract / Free Library by Farlex
(9)
In- vitro Anti-oxidant Activity and Free Radical Scavenging Potential of roots of Malawian / Trichodesma zeylanicumm (burm. f.) / Frank Ngonda / Asian Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences; 2013; 3(20)L pp 21-25.
(10)
Camel Bush / Indian common names / Flowers of India
(11)
Trichodesma zeylanicum / Indian Medicinal Plants / C P Khare
(12)
In vitro antimicrobial activity and determination of essential metal and ash value contents of Trichodesma zeylanicum / Sheila M.Maregesi, Nyamwisenda T.Nyamwisenda, Denis Mwangomo, Abdul Kidukuli / International Journal of Research in Pharmacology & Pharmacotherapeutics, 2013; Vol 2, Issue 3 /
pISSN: 2278-268 / eISSN: 2278-2656
(13)
A Survey of medicinal plants in Tabora region, Tanzania / C.K. RUFFO / Traditional Medicinal Plants, 1991, Tanzania, 391 p.
(14)
Trichodesma zeylanicum / KEW: Plants of the World Online
(15)
Traditional Medicinal Plants Used to Treat Maternal and Child Health Illnesses in Ethiopia: An Ethno-Botanical Approach / Asmare TW, Yilkal BA, Mekuannint T, and Yibeltal / J Tradit Med Clin Natur., 7(3)
(16)
Trichodesma / Wikipedia
(17)
Trichodesma zeylanicum / Wikipedia
(18)
Ricinoleic and cyclopropene acids in Trichodesma zeylanicum seed oil. /  KM Hosamani / Phytochemistry, 1994; 37(6): pp 1621-1624 / pISSN: 0031-922 / DOI: 10.1016/S0031-9422(00)89578-3
(19)
Use of ethnobotanical criteria for conservation assessment of plants used for respiratory diseases in Lake Victoria region, Tanzania / JN Otieno, J J Magadula, P Okemo et al / International Journal of Biodiversity and Conservation, 2011; 3(11): pp 610-617 / ISSN: 2141-23X
(20)
Tichodesma zeylanicum / WSSA / APHIS
(21)
Trichodesma zeylanicum / Australian Native Plants Society
(22)
Trichodesma zeylanicum / Flora of Zimbabwe
(23)
Trichodesma zeylanicum / Ken Fern: Tropical Plants Database / Useful Tropical Plants

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