Featuring LAGUNDI

Lagundi (Vitex negundo) is a known herbal medicine for treating coughs, asthma and other respiratory diseases in the Philippines.

I got interested about this special plant when our neighbor talked about taking the concoction to cure her cough and amazingly, her cough was gone after 2 days of strictly taking the juice every after meal.  She said she had to endure the bitterness but it was worth the struggle.

Lagundi leaf.

Upon hearing her story, I asked her how the plant looks like and luckily, there's a healthy shrub growing beside the house under the big mango tree.  Without any hesitation, I grabbed my camera and there goes the photo ops featuring the power plant Lagundi.

Getting up close made me realize the inner beauty of this shrub.  It may look boringly green from far but when you get closer you will see the beautiful flowers and fruits.  I noticed also some small insects hopping on the violet buds and other busy insects doing their own insect business.  Nectar here, crunchy leaves there, munchy fruits everywhere.  They have a community of their own and I was the intruder.

Lagundi flower.

Lagundi fruit.

 One good thing, I got to wander around and got some snapshots of some beautiful 4 o'clock plants that I remember as my project in my genetics class way back in my marine bio days.  Reminds me of our professor Mdm. Murphy.

Lagundi shrub growing along 4 o'clock plants.

To prepare the concoction, you just need to boil 1 part of Lagundi to 4 parts of water.  Boil them for 10 to 15 minutes and filter the juice.  Then drink half a cup three times a day or every after meal.

Lagundi concoction ingredients.

If you cannot take the bitter taste, just add calamansi and ginger and sugar to taste especially for kids.

Calamansi and ginger.

Lagundi is already approved by the Department of Health and has been commercially distributed.  If you cannot find the shrub around, you can easily buy the syrup at the counter.

Commercially available Lagundi.