Turpeth
Operculina turpethum
- Names in the book
- Albohol, Sp.; Turpeth Root, Indian Jalap, Eng.
- Colours
- flowerwhite
- Native range
- East Africa through tropical Asia to Australia
- In the Philippines, per the book
- Common in Bauang and Pasig. Blooms in November.
- Family
- Convolvulaceae, filed in the book under Convolvulaceæ
- Printed as
- Ipomœa Turpethum, R. Br. (Convolvulus Turpethum, L.; C. maximus, Blanco.)
- Sources
- Page 176 on Project Gutenberg · Wikipedia
The plant today
Operculina turpethum (syn. Ipomoea turpethum) is a species of plant in the morning glory family, known commonly as turpeth, fue vao, and St. Thomas lidpod. It is large, robust, perennial, herbaceous, and hairy vine growing 4 to 5 meters in length. It is found in India, in the North Circars and Deccan region up to 3000 ft, East Africa, Papua New Guinea and Australia in both Queensland and the Northern Territory of Australia, near Shoal Bay and Maria Island. The leaves are alternate, very variable in shape, ovate, oblong and truncate or cordate at the base approximately 5.5–15 cm long. Its flowers are white, large, axillary, and solitary.
Excerpt from “Operculina turpethum” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Recorded in the Philippines
GBIF holds 111 records of this plant from the Philippines. The ones with map coordinates fall in 12 provinces, most often Rizal (9), Metropolitan Manila (4), Bataan (3), Batangas (3), Bulacan (2), Laguna (2), Oriental Mindoro (2), Batanes (1), and 4 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
The root, known in the Philippines as “turbita,” is a purgative and is a component part of the tincture of jalap, one of the most positive and active of known cathartics. But turpeth root is seldom used alone, for its action is so uncertain that Sir W. O’Shaughnessy pronounced the plant unworthy of a place in the Pharmacopœia of India. The dose of the powder is 1–4 grams, the resin 40–50 cgms., the decoction of the root 4–12 grams. The active principle is a resin soluble in ether and a glucoside, turpethin, C34H56O16.
In the east of India they make offerings of the flowers to the god Shiva, and also put them to more practical use by applying them to the head for neuralgic headache.
Botanical description
A vine with quadrangular stem. Leaves heart-shaped. Flowers axillary, numerous, in umbels. Calyx deeply cleft in 5 imbricated, ovate, fleshy parts. Corolla bell-shaped, folded. Stamens 5, unequal in height. Ovary inserted on an hypogynous disk, with 2 biovulate compartments. Style same length as stamens. Stigma bilobulate, globose. Seed vessel square, encircled by calyx, 2 locules each with 2 seeds.
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.
- Evaluation of acute oral toxicity of Ipomoea turpethum extract loaded polymeric nanoparticles in Wistar rats
- Green Synthesis: An Eco-Friendly Approach for the Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Functionalized with Operculina turpethum and It's In vitro and in vivo Biological Activities
- Secretome analysis of breast cancer cells to identify potential target proteins of Ipomoea turpethum extract-loaded nanoparticles in the tumor microenvironment