I once asked an elderly man why this plant goes by the following names; “Independence Leaf “, “Queen Elizabeth Weed”, “Ewe Akintola” and “Ewe Awolowo’ and the response I got was that the plant never started flourishing in Nigeria as such until the year 1960 or thereabout.
The nomenclature is of historical significance as this plant started flourishing massively in Nigeria during the era of the country’s independence from the colonial masters.
This medicinal weed is all over the place today to the extent of almost constituting a nuisance to farmers. If a piece of land is left fallow for just couple of months, this plant begins to grow uncontrollably and if left unchecked, overpowers and over grows every other nearby vegetation. Perhaps, that is why farmers consider “Independence Weed” (siam weed) as a troublesome vegetation.
The Igbos chose a very appropriate name for this plant when they named it “Obiarakara” meaning, he arrives and overpowers.
Known scientifically as Chromolaena odorata with the synonyms Osmia odorata L. and Euphatorium odoratum L., siam weed is rated very high in healing all manner of bruises, burns, wounds and sores. It possesses all the medicinal actions required of a perfect wound healing and soothing herb.
Imagine that you sustained an injury, the following may likely occur;
1.You may experience pain at the site of the injury.
2.Certainly, there will be an inflammation and possibly swelling around the injury.
3.Bleeding may occur at the site of the injury.
4.You may shortly thereafter, experience feverish condition.
5.The wound is open and therefore vulnerable to all sorts of pathogenic infections.
6.The trauma may occasion periodic spasms on the underlying muscles near the injured tissue.
Now think of the possibility of having A SINGLE HERB that will address all the needs enumerated above. Won’t that be a nice and a wonderful herb to know and have?
Good that possibility is realized with “Independence weed”.
Siam weed promises to offer you that and even much more!
Let’s go…
A) This weed combats both BACTERIA and FUNGI growths extensively. So, the wound is sanitized or disinfected from harmful microorganisms. Harmful microorganism like Escherichia coli, Salmonella and Staphylococcus aureus have all yielded to Siam weed therapy. (I can see many eyes popping out at the mention of those names). Well and good, that’s a bonus for your readership.
B) The ANTI-INFLAMMATORY properties of Siam weed leaf is very high and this ensures that inflammation and swelling near the site of injury is adequately counteracted.
C) Siam weed fresh leaves juice has STYPTIC and ASTRINGENT effect when applied on wound spots. This simply means that it can stop or ARREST BLEEDING. This is also the reason why patients suffering from certain form of HEAMATURIA (bloody urine) benefit immensely when they consume extracts of Siam weed.
D) The FEVER-LOWERING property of Siam weed leaf is the sole reason why it is brewed as tea and consumed in feverish conditions. Same goes for its blooming white flowers. In traditional settings, the leaves are boiled together with lemon grass and mango leaves for the treatment of malaria.
E) This plant is a strong topical and internal ANALGESIC (pain reliever). Little wonder it also finds its application in herbal medicine practice as a nice remedy for rheumatic affections.
F) Siam weed reduces SPASMS in the body when consumed as prescribed. This activity, in addition to its antibiotic property explains why many people drink the tea made from Siam weed for COUGH.
Do you know that report has it that in Vietnam today, an extract of Siam weed (which we regard as troublesome weed) is marketed as a veritable and efficacious skin, burns, wounds and soft tissue healing remedy?
We long for that time when committed, moneybag investors in private and public sectors in this country will look inwards and start discovering as well as start harnessing all the potentials in the Nation’s herbal medicine industry.
Then the consumption of foreign herbal medicine products will drastically reduce, then countries that have entered or are entering into economic recession will become more viable again because they would be utilizing the talents and natural resources that God endowed them with and correspondingly be saving huge foreign exchange.
