Botany
Sikir is an ascending or erect, slightly branched, half-woody, slightly hairy perennail herb, 30 to 80 cm high, with slender, terete branches. Leaves are ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 2 to 6 cms long, and 1 to 4 cm wide, the tip pointed, and broad at the base, truncate or somewhat heart-shaped, 3-nerved, with crenate-dentate margins. Fruit is usually a drup, rarely an achene, enveloped by an enlarged calyx or immersed in a fleshy receptacle. Seed is solitary.

Distribution
In dry thickets, on walls, cliffs, etc. at low altitudes from northern Luzon to Mindanao.
Also occurs in Japan and China, and southward to Malaya.

Properties
Febrifuge, diuretic.

Parts used
Fresh roots.

Uses
Folkloric
In the Visayas, decoction of fresh roots is given in fevers.
Also effective for swollen gums when used as a gargle.
Infusion of roots used for irregular menstruation. Also, used as diuretic.

Studies
• Prenylcoumarins / Fatouains: Study of the whole plant yielded six new prenylcoumarins: (+)-fatouain A, (−)-fatouain B, (+)-fatouain C, (−)-fatouain D, (+)-fatouain E, and (−)-fatouain F, along with two new bis-prenylcoumarins, (+)-fatouain G and (+)-fatouain H.
• Fatouapilosin / Antimycobacterial: Study yielded one novel dimeric coumarin analog, fatouapilosin, together with 18 known compounds. Compounds 3, 12, asnd 14 exhibited the strongest antimycobacterial activities against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv.

Availability
Wild-crafted.

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(1)
Prenyl Coumarins from Fatoua pilosa / Chun-Ching Chiang, Ming-Jen Cheng et al / J. Nat. Prod., 2010, 73 (10), pp 1718–1722 / DOI: 10.1021/np100354c
(2)
A Novel Dimeric Coumarin Analog and Antimycobacterial Constituents from Fatoua pilosa / Chun-Ching, Ming-Jen Cheng et al / Chemistry & Biodiversity, Volume 7, Issue 7, pages 1728–1736, July 2010 / DOI: 10.1002/cbdv.200900326