Malaulasiman
Oldenlandia corymbosa · Diamond flower
- Names in the book
- The book records no Philippine name for this plant.
- Names from other sources
- Malaulasiman, Ulasiman-aso, Tagalog. Malaulasiman means "like ulasiman", the Tagalog name for purslane. Ulasiman-aso is also used for water hyssop. Listed by StuartXchange and PROSEA.
- Colours
- flowerwhite, lilac
- Native range
- Tropical Africa and Asia; now pantropical
- In the Philippines, per the book
- In the rice fields.
- Family
- Rubiaceae, filed in the book under Rubiaceæ
- Printed as
- Oldenlandia corymbosa, L. (O. biflora, Lam.; O. ramosa, Roxb.; O. herbacea and serabrida, DC.; O. burmaniana, Mig.)
- Sources
- Page 141 on Project Gutenberg · Wikipedia
The plant today
Oldenlandia corymbosa, commonly known as flat-top mille graines or diamond flower, is a species of plant in the family Rubiaceae. It is a commonly used herb in China and India for treating sore eyes, anthelmintic, antirheumatic, depurative, digestive, diuretic, pectoral, fever, jaundice, child birth, and stomachic medicine, while the roots are reported to have vermifuge properties.
Excerpt from “Oldenlandia corymbosa” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Recorded in the Philippines
GBIF holds 173 records of this plant from the Philippines. The ones with map coordinates fall in 20 provinces, most often Laguna (29), Metropolitan Manila (13), Cebu (5), Bukidnon (3), Rizal (3), Bataan (2), Batanes (2), Batangas (2), and 12 more.
Counts from GBIF occurrence records, October 2026. They include planted trees and garden plants, and a province with no records may only lack collectors.
What the 1901 book says
A historical record, quoted as printed. Doses and remedies here are not medical advice.
Uses
Uses.—The Sanscrit writers often mention this plant as an important remedy for the fevers due, according to their theories, to disordered bile, i. e., remittent fevers, accompanied by gastric irritability and nervous depression. The entire plant is used to make a decoction, often combined with aromatics. Dymock observed in Goa that this plant could be gotten in all the shops of the herb-venders, and that it was widely used as an alterative in mild fevers in combination with “Hydrocotyle Asiatica and Adiantum lunulatum.”
In Concan they apply the juice to the hands and feet in fevers, giving at the same time a dose of one “tola” (6.80 grams) in sweetened water or milk. This juice is obtained by soaking the bruised plant in water. In remittent fever the decoction is also used as a liniment for the whole body. It is given internally for skin eruptions due to excessive heat, especially “lichen tropicus.”
Botanical description
A small herb, stem straight, about 30 centimeters high, glabrous, dichotomous. Leaves opposite, linear, green, lanceolate, stipulate. Flowers small, hermaphrodite, axillary, solitary, or in pairs, alternate or opposite. Calyx gamosepalous with 5 short teeth. Corolla gamopetalous, funnel-shaped. Stamens 5, free, inserted in the tube of the corolla. Ovary inserted in the hollow of the receptacle, 2 many-ovuled locules. Style simple, ending in a bifid stigma. Capsule rounded-oval, membranous. Seeds numerous, polyhedrous, albuminous, surface granular.
Recent research
The most cited papers since 2022 that name this plant in the title, pulled from Europe PMC in October 2026. Titles are the authors' own and the findings have not been reviewed here.
- Genomic, transcriptomic, and metabolomic analysis of Oldenlandia corymbosa reveals the biosynthesis and mode of action of anti-cancer metabolites
- Comparative study of Scleromitrion diffusum and Oldenlandia corymbosa: Microscopy, TLC, HPLC, and antioxidant activity