Medicinal Herbs

Helicteres Extract

Helicteres hirsuta

Helicteres (Helicteres hirsuta) is a shrub of one to three metres, its cylindrical branches hairy and both leaf surfaces covered in star-shaped hairs, the underside of the leaf whitish. The oval leaves run 5-17 cm long, with an unevenly toothed margin, a drawn-out tip and five veins from the base; short spikes of pink to red flowers appear in the leaf axils almost all year, followed by narrow pointed capsules holding many seeds. It grows throughout Vietnam, from north to south, in open forest, along forest margins, and on waste ground and grassy hills from the lowlands up to 1500 m. The leaves and roots are the parts used.