The Miracle of the Snake Weed (Tawa-Tawa)

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Snake weed (Scientific Name: Euphorbia hirta Linn) is a slender-stemmed, annual, hairy, much branched herb. The leaves are opposite, lanceolate, distichous, toothed along the margin. The flowers are very small, in dense round clusters, in the axils of the leaves. Seeds are tiny, reddish, oblong, in capsules, with a wrinkled surface. They are odorless and bitter. It abounds on grasslands and waste places.

The following are the medicinal uses of this plant:

• Used against asthma, cough, bowel complaints, stomach ache and dysentery.
• Used in the treatment of acute abdominal pains.
• Can also cure skin diseases, and infection of the mouth.
• It can stops local bleeding.
• Also an antidote in snakebite.
• A treatment for eye diseases.

The following are the instructions on how to use this plant as a medicine:

• The juice of the plant is used for acute abdominal pains.
• The decoction of the plant is good for skin diseases, especially the dry plant.
• The fresh plant, in decoction, is recommended as a gargle for treating infections in the mouth.
• The crushed leaves are applied on affected parts to stop local bleeding.
• The root is said to be good for snakebites.
• The milky juice is dropped in the eye in gene eye diseases.

In the following process, the whole plant is utilized after washing them thoroughly. The dose is approximately 12 to 20 grams of plant material for 1 liter of water in spoonful doses. Externally, it is used as the need arises.

Reference: "Amazing Healing Plants" by Dr. JC Kurian