Aspilia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae.Thouars, Louis-Marie Aubert du Petit-. 1806. Genera Nova Madagascariensia 12Wild, H. (1967) The Compositae of the Flora Zambesiaca area. 1. Heliantheae. Kirkia 6(1) 1-62Tropicos, Aspilia Thouars Aspilia is native to sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, Yemen, and tropical South America. Some authors have merged this genus with Wedelia, but others maintain that more study is required.Tadessa, Mesfin. 1999. New combinations, varieties, and synonyms in African Compositae. Compositae Newsletter 33:23-32.
Medicinal uses Historically, Aspilia africana was used in Mbaise and most Igbo speaking parts of Nigeria to prevent conception, suggesting potential contraceptive and anti-fertility properties.Oluyemi Kayode A.; Okwuonu Uche C.; Baxter D. Grillo & Oyesola Tolulope, O.,"Toxic Effects of Methanolic Extract of Aspilia africana Leaf on the Estrous Cycle and Uterine Tissues of Wistar Rats" Int. J. Morphol., 25(3):609-614, 2007. Leaf extract and fractions of A. africana effectively arrested bleeding from fresh wounds, inhibited microbial growth of known wound contaminants and accelerated wound healing process.BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine Volume 7 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6882/7/24 Aspilia is hypothesized to be used as herbal medicine by some chimpanzees.Raffaele Paul "Among the Great Apes", Harper, 2010 p98
Species 63 species are currently accepted.
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