A las cuatro is over the Philippines in settled areas of culture and often spontaneously in the vicinity of cities. It was introduced to Mexico by the Spanish at the earliest, and is now pantropic in distribution. It is often cultivated in Manila and the main towns.This an erection, or flat, ground branched, growing to a height of 20 to 80 centimeters.
The leaves are narrow oblong, 4-10 cm long. Enclosures are full, calyxlike, 1 cm or less, and one of the flowers. Perianth with white, purple or yellow, 3-4 cm long cylindrical tube, which is slightly expanded upward, and the spread of the limbs. The fruit is a narrow egg-shaped, about 8 millimeters long, black and ribs.
According to Maurin oxymethylanthraquinone roots contain laxative but is not because of this element. Yoshimura and Trier isolated an alkaloid, trigonelline, from the plant. Chopra reports trigonelline laxative. Wehmer records that the plant yield galactose and arabinose.
Burkill mentions that pounded the seeds used in Malaysia and elsewhere in China and Japan, women in powder cosmetics. Burkill quotes Rumpf, who says that the powdered root has been used in rice powder and sandalwood for the same purpose for women in Spain Ternate. Porcelain flowers are also used for cosmetic purposes.
Burkill said that the large tubers previously was mistaken in Europe for the source of Jalapa and used as a laxative, but their performance is very low. The roots have been reported as a mild laxative by Martinez, and Ghosser Sanyal, Daruty, Chopra, Nadkarni, and Debeaux Freise-emetic and cathartic in Mexico. Nadkarni and Sanyal and Ghosser say that the fresh juice of the leaves is very soothing and placed on the body to reduce heat and itching of urticaria due to dyspepsia. The crushed leaves are used in India and Java poultice for boils and abscesses, and the juice is used for uterine discharges.
Gimlet and Burkill report that the juice of the leaves is prescribed in a mixture internally for gonorrhea. Reutter said its infusion is prescribed as a diuretic for dropsy.