Tick Clover

Grona adscendens is native to tropical Africa and South America. It has been introduced throughout South and South-East Asia and Melanesia. It has environmental uses and social uses, as animal food and a medicine and for food. The plant has a long history of medicinal use in the Americas and it continues to be much used at present. It is especially valued as a treatment for asthma and allergies. The plant is often used as a cover crop and a green manure in various plantations, including tea, coffee, oil-palm, clove and coconut. Its resistance to root-knot nematodes may prove useful in Desmodium breeding programmesIt is classified as 'Least Concern' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (2013).

Roabe (Papua New Guinea), Pega pega (Philippines), Bai ngai (Vietnam).

Occurs in humid locations, provided that they are shady, growing in damp swamp forest, stream banks and bunds of rice fields, at elevations from 200-1,000 m. In a variety of habitats from forests to grasslands and in secondary/disturbed vegetation.

• Root - taproot diffuse.
• Stem - terete, often rooting near the base, striate, densely soft hairy, glabrescent.
• Leaves - trifoliolate; stipules obliquely ovate-lanceolate with long attenuate apex, up to 1 cm × 3 mm, persistent; petiole 1-3 cm long, rachis up to 1 cm long, both pilose; leaflets elliptical-obovate, terminal leaflet (1.5-)2-4(-5.5) cm × 1-3 cm, lateral leaflets smaller, cuneate to rounded at base, margin entire, obtuse and emarginate at apex, upper surface glabrous to sparsely pubescent, lower surface sparsely to densely soft pilose, lateral nerves rather distinct and not reaching the margin, 4-7 on either side of the midrib.
• Flower - inflorescence a terminal or axillary raceme, 4-20 cm long, lax-flowered; flowers usually in pairs; bracts ovate with a long-acuminate apex, 4-6(-11) mm × 1.5-2.5 mm, densely pubescent, early caducous; pedicel slender, up to 2 cm long in fruit, densely covered with mixed, spreading, hooked and straight hairs less than 1 mm long. Calyx 2.5-3.0 mm long, covered with persistent, patent, long hairs especially on the 5 teeth and with minute straight or hooked hairs; corolla white or purple to violet; standard broadly obovate or orbicular, 4.5-5.5 mm × 4.0-4.5 mm, rounded or retuse at the apex, shortly clawed; wings nearly obovate, about 4 mm × 2 mm, obtuse at the apex, auriculate at the base, shortly clawed; keel-petals 4.5-5.0 mm long, incurved, subacute at the apex,  stamens diadelphous; pistil 5.0-5.5 mm long, densely short-hairy on the ovary, style glabrous, stigma minutely capitate.
• Fruit - pod narrowly oblong, 1.0-2.5 cm × 3-4 mm, 3-6-jointed, dehiscent along the lower sutures, rarely shortly (1-2 mm) stipitate, slightly swollen on the seed, densely covered with very short, spreading, hooked hairs.
• Seed - flattened, ellipsoid, 2.5-5.0 mm × 1.5 mm.

• Generative propagation is by seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe. Stored seed develops a hard seedcoat and may benefit from scarification before sowing in order to speed up and improve germination. This can usually be done by pouring a small amount of nearly boiling water on the seeds (being careful not to cook them) and then soaking them for 12-24 hours in warm water. By this time they should have imbibed moisture and swollen - if they have not, then carefully make a nick in the seedcoat (being careful not to damage the embryo) and soak for a further 12 hours before sowing. The seed usually germinates within 1-4 months at 25 °C. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots once they are large enough to handle and grow them on until large enough to plant out.
• Vegetative propagation is by cuttings of half-ripe wood with a heel, root cutting, and division (larger clumps can be replanted direct into their permanent positions, though it is best to pot up smaller clumps and grow them on until they are rooting well).

Flavonoids, alkaloids, soyasaponins, terpenoid, steroid, phenol, phenylpropanoids, glycoside, tannin, and essential oils.

• The plant is analgesic, antiasthmatic, antiinflammatory, antispasmodic, antitussive, bronchodilator, digestive, galactagogue, laxative, nervine, vermifuge and vulnerary.
• The leaves are used in Papua New Guinea to treat stomach-ache.
•  In Central America a decoction of the plant is used as a laxative and to treat convulsions, and in Dominica, to soothe urinary disorders in cases of venereal diseases.
• A tea of the plant is given as a treatment for nervousness and eczema.
• A leaf tea is used as a blood cleanser; to detoxify the body from environmental toxins and chemicals; as a urinary tract cleanser; and to treat ovarian and uterine problems such as inflammation and irritation, vaginal discharges, and haemorrhages. It is also used as a wash on the breasts of mothers in order to promote milk flow.
• A decoction of the dried roots is a popular tribal remedy for malaria.

• Siapkan daun tamala marada secukupnya, cuci bersih dengan air mengalir.
• Keringkan di bawah sinar matahari atau dengan oven suhu 40 °C hingga kadar air 10%.
• Haluskan menggunakan blender hingga menjadi bubuk.
• Simpan pada wadah bersih dan kedap udara.