''Sphagneticola calendulacea'' is a perennial herb in the genus ''

Sphagneticola ''Sphagneticola'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonl ...

''. It is found in China,

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, Japan,

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...

. Tolerant to drought, humidity and barren environment,'' S. calendulacea'' is a common herbaceous plant in China and Taiwan. ''S. calendulacea'' produces

wedelolactone Wedelolactone is an organic chemical compound classified as a coumestan that occurs in ''Eclipta alba ''Eclipta prostrata'', commonly known as false daisy, ''yerba de tago'', ''Gunta kalagaraku/Gunta galagaraku'', ''Karisalankanni'', and ''bhrin ...

and demethylwedelolactone. In Vietnam, the leaves of the plant is sometimes used to treat infant eczema although scientific evidence is not clear. In China and Taiwan, '' S. calendulacea'' is an ingredient in 青草茶/百草茶(a kind of

herbal tea Herbal teas, also known as herbal infusions and less commonly called tisanes (UK and US , US also ), are beverages made from the infusion or decoction of herbs, spices, or other plant material in hot water. Oftentimes herb tea, or the plain term ...

). 青草茶 is a natural drink that has been around for a long time. In traditional Chinese medicine, '' S. calendulacea'' is classified as "清熱藥/Heat-clearing herbs". It has the effect of relieve fever and detoxification, cooling blood and dissipating blood stasis. According to modern scientific research,

polyphenols Polyphenols () are a large family of naturally occurring organic compounds characterized by multiples of phenol units. They are abundant in plants and structurally diverse. Polyphenols include flavonoids, tannic acid, and ellagitannin, some o ...

such as

Wedelolactone Wedelolactone is an organic chemical compound classified as a coumestan that occurs in ''Eclipta alba ''Eclipta prostrata'', commonly known as false daisy, ''yerba de tago'', ''Gunta kalagaraku/Gunta galagaraku'', ''Karisalankanni'', and ''bhrin ...

Apigenin Apigenin (4′,5,7-trihydroxyflavone), found in many plants, is a natural product belonging to the flavone class that is the aglycone of several naturally occurring glycosides. It is a yellow crystalline solid that has been used to dye wool. ...

and

Luteolin Luteolin is a flavone, a type of flavonoid, with a yellow crystalline appearance. Luteolin is the principal yellow dye compound that is obtained from the plant ''Reseda luteola'', which has been used as a source of the dye since at least the firs ...

contained in '' S. calendulacea'' can inhibit the growth of

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that su ...

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or ...

and

nasopharyngeal carcinoma Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), or nasopharynx cancer, is the most common cancer originating in the nasopharynx, most commonly in the postero-lateral nasopharynx or pharyngeal recess ( fossa of Rosenmüller), accounting for 50% of cases. NPC occurs ...

. A paper from India states that the essential oil of '' S. calendulacea'' can prevent the development of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

.(2012)

References

External links

Heliantheae {{Heliantheae-stub