Ticktree

Description:

Desmodium gangeticum Linn. (Fabaceae), Mangkit (local name) / Shalparni or Sarivan (Hindi) is one of the most important Ayurvedic herbs. It is an an erect or ascending, half-woody branched plant, usually about 1 meter high. Flowers are numerous, white, purple or lilac, 4 mm long borne on lateral and terminal, slender racemes, up to 30 cm long.

Habitat:

Seen in Mount Makiling Forest Reserve in Los Baños, Laguna. Distribution: In thickets and open secondary forests and waste places throughout the Philippines. Also reported in India, Himalayas, Ceylon, the Malay Peninsula and Archipelago, China, and tropical Africa.