West Indian woodnettle (Laportea aestuans)

Daun gatal or West Indian woodnettle (Laportea aestuans) is a species of plant in Urticaceae, an annual shrub, erect stems, 1-3 meters high and the whole plant is tightly covered with hairs up to 1 mm long, contains beneficial fibers and the leaves are harvested from nature for traditional medicinal purposes.

L. aestuans has erect stems, straight, cylindrical, green, filled with white hairs. The leaves grow opposite and have long stalks, cylindrical and green.

Leaf blade heart-shaped or broad oblong, base flat, pointed tip, margin serrated, many veins and pinnate, wavy surface, upper side green, underside silvery.

The flowers grow in panicles in the axils of the leaves. West Indian woodnettle grows in forests, farmlands, wastelands, open places with lots of sunshine in tropical climates.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Rosales
Family: Urticaceae
Genus: Laportea
Species: Laportea aestuans

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