MEDlCINAL PLANTS OF JAMAICA. PARTS 1 & 11.

SPONDIAS PURPUREA L. Red.coat Plum: Brazilian or Spanish Plum.
The leaves are sometimes boiled with those of hog plum (S. monbin) to make a cold remedy. In Maya
medicine they have been used in baths for skin diseases. The Mayas also utilised the tender shoots to treat gum
infections and the bark as a remedy for dysentery. The latter contains tannin and gum.resin. (27, 56).
ANNONACEAE
ANNONA MURICATA L. Soursop.
In addition to the uses already recorded, the heart of a ripe soursop is sometimes given to children as a
remedy for worms. As an alternative treatment tea made with the leaves may be given for nine mornings
followed by a dose of castor oil on the eleventh morning. The leaves of Stachytarpheta jamaicensis and
Chenopodium ambrosioides are sometimes used in conjunction with those of soursop for the preparation of a
tea for the treatment of worms. Soursop leaves are used in baths for the treatment of fever and pains. In Cuba
the fruit pulp has been used in poultices for chigoes. An infusion of the flowers is said to be pectoral and the
leaves antispasmodic and stomachic. Lunan says that the fruit taken on an empty stomach is a cure for intermittent
fevers: it has also been considered diuretic. Infused or burnt, and mixed with oil. the leaves were applied
to boils and a root decoction was thought efficacious in treating fish poisoning. More recent information
indicates the use of soursop leaves in Jamaica for the preparation of a general beverage. as a lactagogue and,
rubbed up in the hands, as an application to the head and nostrils for fainting. (5. 7, 8. 9. 10, 13, 15. 25, 27, 37,
38. 47. 54, 62).
ANNONA SQUAMOSA L. Sweetsop: Sugar Apple.
In Jamaica the bruised leaves. like those of soursop, are considered of use in cases of fainting. Lunan
and other early writers considered the ripe fruit cooling, laxative and anthelmintic. The leaves. crushed and
often mixed with salt, have been used in Jamaica. Cuba and the East as a maturing plaster for tumors.
Descourtilz described the buds, roots and fruit rind as astringent. The bark provides a tonic in Malaya and
China. In Cuba the shoots are employed in infusions for diarrhoea and indigestion. (2, 5, 7, 10, 13, 15, 27, 38,
39, 47, 51, 61, 62).
ARACEAE
About one thousand eight hundred chiefly herbaceous tropical species which have been little
investigated chemically. The occurrence of saponin. a conicine-like alkaloid and isolated instances of
hydrocyanic acid, fat. volatile oil, hesperidine. phytosterine and choline are reported.
COLOCASIA ESCULENTA Schott. Coco (Yam); Eddo; Tanya; Dasheen; Taro.
We are informed that the milk from grated white cocoes is sometimes mixed with coconut milk and
taken for biliousness. Lunan speaks of the use of the "roots" (tubers) in the treatment of asthma and
consumption. Fawcett records that the juice of the tubers is laxative. In the main, however. writers record the
value of the tubers and leaf juice as a dressing for ulcers. swellings. burns and as an excellent styptic. The tubers
are said to contain some 20 per cent starch together with mucilage which is probably a polyanhydrite of dglucose.
They are much used in tropical countries as food. (8, 15, 27, 37, 38, 60. 61).
ARALIACEAE
ARALIA GUILFOYLE I Cogn and March. Aralia.
The leaves of this species are used in Jamaica as a poultice for headaches.
ASCLEPIADACEAE
ASCLEPIAS CURASSA VICA L. Red Head.
In Jamaica this species is still in use as an application for boils and warts. The juice may be employed
alone or the leaf may be used with vaseline or castor oil as a dressing. A worm remedy prepared from this plant
is still known but our informant considered it dangerous. In Honduras it is still so used.