Chapter Four

PLANTS OF POTENTIAL MEDICINAL VALUE

In the last two chapters, we discussed the pharmacopoeial plants and those
commonly sold in the market and used in the folk medicine. However, there is a
third group of plants which are of potential value as medicinal plants. Some of these
plants are used in areas where they grow, but are not of widespread use in other
localities. Others have been investigated from the pharmacognostical,
phytochemical and/or pharmacological point of view. The results are not enough to
evaluate the plant as a pharmacopoeial item. The list of these plants could be very
long. Nevertheless, we shall give some of the important wild plants of this group
with short notes on each. The available ethnopharmcological ni formation about
these plants seem to be insufficient. Those given here are compiled from the
available literature (cf. Al-Rawi and Chakravarty 19 and Boulos 1983 and
others). There is a great need for field surveys among the natives to report
correctly about these plants and their indigenous uses. Also, it is necessary to
compile the available information and prepare an annotated bibliography to help the
researchers in the different fields related to the medicinal plants. The traditional
knowledge about the use of these plants should be recorded. There is fear from the
loss of the biodiversity; the medicinal plants represent an important component of
it, and consequently the loss of the traditional knowledge of the healers.
Conservation, either ex situ or in situ, is indispensable It is to be noted that the
present treatise aims at gathering information and data about the wild medicinal
plats of Egypt. We can not pretend that it covers all the various aspects of the
subject. However, it is a trial towards recording some of the available data and
information to represent a bases for future studies. In the coming pages, we shall
give a short list of some plants, which would have considerable value as medicinal
plants.

Acacia raddiana Savi Talh, Seyal ???????s

A tall spiny desert tree, with round irregular crown and reddish bark. The flowers
are arranged in heads. The legume is flattened and spirally twisted. The fruit and
the young branches are good fodder for the camels, sheep and goats. Gum from
the tree is dispensed in water and used to treat occular affections, jaundice, and
pulmonary diseases. Dried powdered bark disinfectant, and it is used for healing
wounds. Seeds, entire or powdered, are taken as antidiarrhoeic.

Achillea santolina L.
Aromatic hairy perennial which grows in the barley fields in the Mediterranean
coastal zone and the Isthmic desert. The plant flowers in spring. It is used locally to
reduce the pain of toothache by rubbing the young flowering branches against the
teeth or by chewing them. The plant is becoming rare these days due to the impact
of human activities on its habitat.

Ajuga iva (L.) Schreb.

Small woolly, aromatic perennial herb which grows in rocky habitats in the
western Mediterranean region. The cold infusion of this herb is considered
antihelminthic. It is said that the hot infusion is useful in the case of diabetes. The
plant is endangered.

Alhagi graecorum Boiss. Alhag- Aqoul ? ???? ????

Perennial, leguminous spiny undershrub. It is common in all the
phytogeographical regions of the country. It grows in waste places, saline habitats.
The plant is a favourable food for camels, sometimes called shouk el-gamal;
Camel thorn. The Latin name is given after the Arabic name Aqoul. The plant is
used as a laxative as well as in diseases of the urinary tracts.

Asphodelus fistulosus L.
A small annual herb with a rosette of semi-terete leaves. Flowers in a lax
panicle. Seeds are black. It grows in all the phytogeographical regions of Egypt.
The seeds are diuretic. They are eaten with yoghort.

Bacopa monnieri (L.) Pennell.

 Creeping glabrous perennial herb, growing in mats. Leaves opposite, entire,
rounded at tip. It grows in wet places in the Nile region, Oases. It is a rare plant
and subject to threats due to drying the wet habitats supporting the plant. It is used
as a tonic, and in epilepsy, hysteria, insanity

Blephasris ciliaris (L.) B.L.Brutt Shouk ed-dhab ? p ?????

Thistle-like spiny perennial herb. Leaves and bracts rigid of silvery appearance,
4-rowed, patent, recurved, spiny-tipped and prickly-toothed. Flowers blue in a
dense bracteate spike. The plant grows rarely in Sinai, Gebel Elba and the Red
Sea region. The charcoal from roots ground into a powder as ³ kohl´ (eye powder)
for feeble sight, probably against cataract.

Capsella bursa-pastoris (L.)Medic. Kees el Ra ¶ee ??????ß ??

Annual winter weed growing in cultivated land in the Delta. It is a small herb.
The flowers are used to control haemorrhage, while the herb is used as an
astringent, diuretic and antiscorbutic.

Centaurea alexandrina Del.

Biennial herb with large heads. Involucral-scales are purple, often spreadingly
recurved. Flowers dirty yellow with purple-brown anthers, pappus absent. It is
common in the Mediterranean region, usually growing along roads and in waste
places. The extracts from the flowering branches are antibacterial and antidiabetic.

Centaurea calcitrapa L.
Tall richly branched biennial weed. Heads are small with conspicuous, yellow
involucral-spines. Flowers white or crimson, pappus absent. The plant grows along
roads and canal banks, specially in the Nile region. It grows also in the
Mediterranean region and the Oases. The plant is bitter. Perhaps it has the Arabic
name morreir, (bitter) from its taste. The herb is bitter-astringent, appetizer,
vulnerary, antiophthalmic, antifebrile, stomachic, for intermittent fever, eye diseases.
Leaves are used for cephalalgia. Flowering summits febrifuge. Root and fruit are
diuretic. Seeds vulnerarey, febrifuge, for renal stones and pains.

Chenopodium ambroioides L. Netanah ??T?

A yellow-green annual herb with rich inflorescence. It is characterised by its
foetid odour. It is a common weed along canals in the Nile, Mediterranean regions
and the Oases. Infusion of leaves digestive, carminative, stimulant, stomachic,
antiasthmatic. Leaves and young shoots and fruiting summits stomachic, diuretic,
anthelmintic, antispasmodic, vermifuge and emmenagogue.

Chrozophore tinctoria (L.) A.Juss.

An annual herb covered with stellate indumentum. Leaves thick woolly, ovate-
lanceolate. It grows in field margins and waste places, mainly in the Nile region.
The plant is cathartic and emetic

Cotoneaster orbicularis Sclecht.

An unarmed shrub. Leaves small, entire, woolly beneath. The fruit is a very small
ovoid red pome. The plant is endangered. It is very rare in Sinai mountains. The
infusion in water is used in typhoid, and antispasmodic.

Cotula cinerea Del.

A small grey-woolly erect or ascending annual herb with yellow discoid heads of
hemispherical shape. Leaves more or less fine-dissected with flat entire lobes. It is
common in sandy habitats in the desert, Mediterranean region, Red Sea region and
Sinai. Infusion of flower heads is aromatic and very agreeable. It is stomachic and
used to flavour tea replacing peppermint, useful for broncho-pulmonary conditions,
against scorpion bites, rheumatism, vomiting, nausea and stomach pains.

Cuscuta planifera Ten. Kashout -Hamoul ????S ????

Annual twining stem parasite, richly branched, yellowish or crimson. It grows on
a wide variety of hosts. It is widespread in all the phytogeographical regions of the
country. Some species of the Genus Cuscuta are known as kashout in Arabic,
which can be derived from the Greek name Cuscuta. The cold infusion is usually
used as an intestinal disinfectant. The stems are used for obesity. The infusion of
seeds is used in catarrh.

Cynomorium coccineum Tarthouth ????s

Perennial leafless fleshy parasite, devoid of chlorophyll. It is a parasite on
halophytes growing in saline habitats in the Mediterranean region. The plant is
usually grilled by the Bedouin, who think the plant has aphrodisiac properties.
Dried plants are powdered and mixed with butter and used against biliary
obstruction. The powder is added to meat dishes as a condiment.
Echium italicum L.
A tall biennial plant. Flowers small, flesh-coloured, in a richly branched, yellow-
hairy inflorescence. Lower leaves broadly lanceolate, large, upper ones narrower.
The plant is very rare and confined to the western Mediterranean coastal zone. The
herb is a popular remedy for snake bite. It is interestinmg to mention that the herb
is eaten by donkeys.

Eminium spiculatum (Blume) Kuntze Louf ???

Stout cormous perennial herb with pedately dissected leaves, appearing
together with the flowers. Spathe is very large, up to 15 cm long, with an open,
inside purple-mottled tube, ending in an inside blackish-purple warty limb. The
plant is fairly common in the Mediterranean coastal region. However, it is
subjected to threats due to changes in its habitat. It is considered by the Bedouins a
dangerous poisonous plant The juice is hypotensive, the alcoholic extract is
hypertensive, while the aqueous extract is devoid of toxicity. Purified alcoholic
extract of corms contains glycosides.

Ephedra alata Decne & Ephedra aphylla Forssk. Alanda ?????

Highly ramified perennial with scaly leaves. Fruits and young shoots are used in
local medicine as an astringent. It is used also in the treatment of asthma, and as a
cardiac stimulant. Relatives of this species (E. sinica) contain ephedrine.

Eryngium creticum Lam. & E. campestre L.

Thistle-like spiny perennial plant, with thin divericate , often blue branches. Basal
leaves thin, with flat petioles, soon wilting. The plant is rare in the western
Mediterranean region. The leaves and roots are used against anaemia, dropsy,
eolic and prolongate perturbation period.

Euphorbia helioscopia L.
Annual herb branching from near the base. Leaves alternate, spathulate,
serrulate. Umber rays 4-5, 2-4 cm long, once -twice divided. Seeds 1.5-2 mm,
regularly alveolate. It is common in the Nile and the Mediterranean regions. It
grows as a weed. The root is used as anthelmintic, purgative, toxic, vesicatory.
The seeds are used in cholera. The latex is highly irritating to mucous membrane
and toxic to mammals and fish. Leaves are used as vermifuge, and in fever.
Gnaphalium luteo-album L..
Annual woolly plant with simple entire, sessile leaves and small clustered heads.
The stem is leafless upwards. Heads corymbose. It is very common as a weed
especially along canals, ditches, on muddy soil. It occurs in the Nile and
Mediterranean regions. The leaves are astringent and vulnerary. The plant is used
as a counter irritant for gout.
.
Hyoscyamus albus L. Sakaran ?????
Richly branched stout villous-viscid perennial plant. Most of the leaves rounded-
cordate, deeply incised-toothed. It is rare in the western Mediterranean region and
in the north Arabian desert. The leaves are used as anodyne, narcotic, sedative in
nervous affections. It is often used as a substitute of H. muticus.
.
Hypericum triquetrifolium Turra
Perennial herb with stiff patent decussate branches, and hence the plant has a
more or less pyramidal aspect. Flowers 1-5 together in the summit of leafy
branches and appear in summer. The plant is very are in the eastern Mediterranean
region. There is another endemic species of this genus, H. sinaicum Hochst. The
latter species is 10-30 cm high, altogether slightly pubescent. Flowers few in a
terminal corymbose panicle. It is very rare in the mountains of Sinai. The plant is
toxic to livestock.

Jussiaea repens L.
Creeping or floating glabrous aquatic perennial plant. It roots at nodes. When
floating, the plant produces clusters of white to pink fusiform roots of very peculiar
aspect. Leaves petioled, lanceolate to oblong-ovate. It is rare in the Nile region
and grows in and along channels. The herb is used as a plaster or poultice for
ulcers and in skin complaints.

Haplophyllum tuberculatum (Forssk.) A. Juss. G???? ???? G???

Perennial, densely glandular-tuberceled , 30-50 cm high herb of unpleasant
smell. Leaves much variable in shape, from narrowly linear to short, obovate.
Flowers yellow and variable in size. The plant is recorded in almost all the
phytgeographical regions of Egypt. It grows in fine sandy soils. The plant is
collected and sold in the shops in the west Mediterranean coastal region under the
name ³ shajarah´ . In north Sinai , it known as dharret rieh, or um-jeneinah. The
Arabic saying in El Arish area “Um Jeneinah, riehetha Helwa Wa Sheina”denotes
that the odour of this plant is both sweet and bad. When the fresh plant is smelled
slightly it has a sweet odour, but when squeezed and smelled it has a bad odour.
Flowering and fruiting branches febrifuge, local antipoison, for vomiting, nausea,
constipation, malaria, difficult childbirth, anemia, rheumatism, gastric pains,
intestinal worms, eye and ear troubles, aphrodisiac; decoction for rheumatic pains.

Herniaria hirsuta L.
Annual with slender root. Branched from the base in one plane with branches
almost at right angle to the main stem. Leaves alternate, acute, hairy on both
surfaces. A variety (var. cinerea Herm.) occurs also. The plant is common mainly
in the Mediterranean coastal region. The decoction of the herb is used in sour
throat, as diuretic, powerful narcotic and stomach irritant. The toxic principle can
be coumarin.

Jatropha glauca Vahl

Erect low undershrub, about 30 cm high, Leaves palmate-lobed, long petioled,
blue-green, at base with laciniate hair-like gland-tipped stipules. Female flowers
larger than the male. Capsule light yellow, 1 cm long. The plant is very rare and
occurs only in Gebel Elba. It is a potential medicinal plant.

Lactuca serriola L. Khass ez-zeit ?????ß ?

Annual or biennial herb, with broad, pinnatifid leaves, which are spiny beneath on
the midrib. Inflorescence richly branched, spreading. Flowers lemon-yellow,
outside dirty red. The plant is a common weed, especially in the Nile region. The
herb is used as a diuretic, antispasmodic, sedative and emollient.

Hyphaene thebaica (L.) Mart. Doom ??O

Dioecious palm. Trunk up to 20 m high , repeatedly bi-forked. Leaves fan-
shaped. The plant grows in the oases, in southern Egypt and the Red Sea region.
The fruits are edible. Molasses are prepared from the pulpy part. Also, a delicious
soft drink is prepared from this pulp. The different parts of the plant have different
uses.

Melilotus indica (L.) All. Handaqouq ?????S

Annual weeds with small yellow flowers and globose legumes. The plant is a
common weed in almost all the phytogeographical regions of the country. Infusion
of flowering branches is emollient and antispasmodic. Seeds for diseases of
genital organs of both sexes.

Mentha longifolia L. Habaq El Maya ?????? ?S

A perennial herb, with linear-lanceolate, almost entire leaves. Flowers minute in
a very narrow acuminate spike. It is very rare and occurs only in the mountains of
Sinai in moist habitats. Infusion of the herb is carminative, antiseptic, and
stimulant. The plant is endangered.

Mentha pulegium L. Folaiyah ????

A perennial herb with small, short-petioled , ovate oblong leaves. Flowers in
dense globose whorls. It is a rare species growing in moist habitats in the Nile
Delta and the Oases. The plant is endangered. Infusion of the leaves is
antispasmodic, antiseptic, chologogue, and bechic.

Nitraria retusa (Forssk.) Ascher. Gharqad ????

Thorny shrub with small fleshy leaves. The plant grows in saline habitats forming
huge phytogenic mounds. The fruits are edible. It is said that they are useful in the
treatment of urinary tracts.

Paronychia argentea Lam. & P. arabica (L.) DC. Besat El Ard ? ?????d?
Small prostrate annual or perennial plant with entirely silvery-scarious bracts
and stipules. It is rare in the Mediterranean region, Isthmic desert and Gebel Elba..
Infusion of the above-ground parts is diuretic, febrifuge, appetizer, mild
aphrodisiac. It may be used for urinary stones. The plant has been reported to be
sold by the herbalists in Amman, Jordan. A similar species is P. arabica (L.) DC.,
which is considered as an aphrodisiac and a stimulant

Pulicaria undulata (L.) Kostel Shai El Gabal ?????? ??

A much-branched, woolly procumbent perennial herb. Ray flowers long and
yellow. The plant has an aromatic scent. It is added to the tea to give it a good
refreshing flavour. It is carminative and stimulant. It is called in Arabic ³ shai
gabali´ means the tea of the mountain.

Retama raetam (Forssk.) Webb & Berthel Ratam ???

A leafless desert shrub with long virgate whip-like branches. Flowers white. Fruit
one seeded, seeds brown to black. The plant is common in the deserts of the
country as well as Sinai and the Mediterranean coastal zone. The plant is used for
making eye wash for eye troubles. Root are used against diarrhoea. Branches are
used as febrifuge, for treatment of wounds; powdered branches mixed with honey
are emetic, given as a purgative and vermifuge, abortive in large doses.

Rhus tripartita (Ucria)Grande Leqq ??

Shrub, up to 2 m high, branches short and spiny, reddish brown, glossy. Leaves
3-foliate, with dentate margins. The plant grows on the rocks in the coastal zone,
north Arabian desert, Gebel Elba, Sinai and the Red Sea region. The plant is rare
and endangered. The fruit is edible. The infusion of the fruits and the leaves is
recommended for gastric and intestinal ailments.

Senecio vulgaris L. Eshbet Salima ????? ??? ?

Annual herbs with corymbose, yellow flower heads. Leaves deeply cleft with
narrow lobes. Heads small, cylindrical, ray florets absent. The plant is a weed in
the Nile region and the western Mediterranean zone. It has been noted by the
senior author that the weed was common in the sixties in Giza Governorate. After
the establishment of the High Dam, one can note a retreat of the plant to the south.
In the eighty¶s, the plant can be collected in Beni Suef to the south. It seems that
there is a relation between the occurrence of this species and some minerals in the
Nile water deposited in the Valley and the Delta before the construction of the
High Dam. The lack of these minerals or elements would cause the disappearance
of this species. Flowering branches emenagogue, vaso-constrictor, vermifuge,
emollient, hemostatic, mild laxative, and resolvent.

Sonchus oleraceus L. Go¶deid ? ?p ??

Annual herb growing as a weed in the cultivated land. It has a wide ecological
amplitude. The plant has been recorded in almost all the phytgeographical regions
of the country. The brownish gum left after the evaporation of the juice of this plant
is said to be a powerful hydragogue and cathartic. It has also been used as a so-
called cure for the opium habit. Recently, the plant has been found to contain an
alkaloid.

Vaccaria pyramidata Medicus Sabounya ???????

 Annual glabrous herb with dichotomously branched stem. Leaves lanceolate,
with sessile cordate base. Flowers long peduncled, rose-coloured. The plant is a
common weed in the Nile, Mediterranean regions, Sinai, the Oases and the Isthmic
desert. Root vulnerary for abscesses, furuncles, ulcers, scabies, mastitis,
lymphangitis, emmenagogue and galactogogue, contraindicated in pregnancy.
Decoction of root used to take care of wounds, sores, scabies and different dermal
infections, taking into consideration its toxicity. Leaves and roots contain saponins
which provoke, in strong diseases, a general paralysis of muscles.

Verbascum sinuatum L. Muslih Al Anzar ????????µ ?

Woolly biennial plants with flowers umbelled in clusters. The plant is rare in the
Nile region, eastern Mediterranean region, Oases and Sinai. The plant is
endangered. The roots and leaves are used for the treatment of eye diseases. They
have the reputation of ameliorating the sight. They are used for inflammation and as
an antipoison. The dried powdered plant is used for all eye diseases.

Withania somnifera (L.) Dun. Somm El Ferakh ? ???????

Shrub with broad entire, asymmetric leaves The fruit is bright red berry,
enclosed by the inflated calyx found in clusters on the stem. The plants grows in
different phytogeographical regions in Egypt. It grows mainly along the cultivated
fields, especially in the Delta and Nile Valley. It is narcotic, and anti-epileptic. The
seeds and fruits are diuretic. The leaves are used for tumers and tuberculated
glands. The tuber is used in inflammatory conditions, psoriasis, bronchitis, ulcers,
scabies.

Xanthium brasilicum Vellozo Shubbeit ????

An annual herb with simple or few- branched stem. Leaves are broadly ovate
to cordate, irregularly incised-crenate. Fruit hairy, with thick stout terminal peaks.
It is a common summer weed in cultivated land. The fruits are cooling and are used
in the treatment of smallpox. The root is bitter, tonic, and believed to be useful in
cancer and strumous diseases. The involucre is used in hemicrania. The plant has
diaphoretic and sedative properties.