Kulutkulutan
Urena lobata · Caesarweed
- Names in the book
- Kulutan, Kulutkulutan, Molopolo, Tag., Vis., Pam.
- Colours
- flowerpink
- Native range
- Tropics worldwide
- In the Philippines, per the book
- Common in all parts of the Archipelago.
- Family
- Malvaceae, filed in the book under Malvaceæ
- Printed as
- Urena sinuata, L. (U. morifolia and muricata, DC.; U. multifida, Blanco.)
- Sources
- Page 44 on Project Gutenberg · Wikipedia
The plant today
Urena lobata, commonly known as Caesarweed or Congo jute, is a tender perennial, variable, erect, ascendant shrub or subshrub measuring up to 0.5 meters (1.6 ft) to 2.5 meters (8.2 ft) tall. The stems are covered with minute, star-like hairs and often tinged purple. Considered a weed, it is considered to be native throughout much of the tropical and subtropical world, including South and Central America, Africa, Asia and Pacific Islands.
Excerpt from “Urena lobata” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Recorded in the Philippines
GBIF holds 351 records of this plant from the Philippines. The ones with map coordinates fall in 45 provinces, most often Agusan del Sur (25), Davao del Sur (19), Negros Occidental (14), Bukidnon (13), Benguet (11), Laguna (7), Palawan (6), Rizal (6), and 37 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 infusion of the root is used internally as an emollient and refrigerant; externally in skin diseases accompanied by smarting and inflammation. The boiled and pounded leaves are used as a poultice in inflammation of the intestines and bladder.
Botanical description
A spreading plant 4–6° high, with straight stem, leaves cleft at the base, serrate and hairy; the larger ones have 5–6 lobules which subdivide into smaller ones and bear a small gland in the inferior surface of the midrib. Petioles short. Flowers terminal and racemose. Calyx double, composed of 5 narrow sepals externally, and 5 colored sepals internally alternating with the outer ones. Corolla, 5 petals. Stamens numerous, inserted about a small column. Styles 10, on the end of the column. Stigmas thick, covered with little spheres. Five united carpels, kidney-shaped, bristling with short stiff hairs, containing solitary 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.
- An efficient droplet-vitrification cryopreservation procedure for high imperatorin-yielding hairy root clones of Urena lobata
- Phytochemical profiling and integrated in vitro and in silico assessment of the antioxidant, thrombolytic, and anti-inflammatory properties of Urena lobata L. leaf extracts
- Preparation and characterization of handsheet using cellulose based Agri-weed: A sustainable utilization of Urena Lobata fiber