Last year, over 400 Filipinos died of Dengue Fever (mosquito bourne). Recently, a plant (Euphorbia hirta Linn., locally named "Gatas-Gatas") arose to the tragedy. It has been introduced to stop internal bleeding and increase platelet count http://www.stuartxchange.com/GatasGatas.html. Since then, I had tried to cultivate this common weed in my garden for my neighbors who might need it. But in another part of my garden, another variety similar to Gatas-Gatas seems to abundantly be presenting itself to me. Its leaves are smaller, lighter green, with white flowers. Please identify this plant. If knowledgeable, please indicate if it has the same properties as Gatas-Gatas.
Do note that the stuartxchange link above links to a weblog entry where the person recommends "Tawa Tawa does not interfere with your western medical treatments. You can slip it in through to the patient in a water bottle. You do not need to ask permission from your doctor." and "Western medicine, the common hospital does not have a cure for Dengue. They merely say that their treatment is supportive and all you need to do is pray that the dengue victim is strong enough." I would suggest that this person has an agenda and a misunderstanding of Western medicine. At best, the purported cure seems to be anecdotal. It doesn't matter how loudly or boldly one proclaims something to be true... if it isn't true, it isn't true. A bit of reading on the subject: In the war against dengue, half of all casualties are children and Herbal cure for Dengue?. To be fair, neither of these are primary scientific sources (and in fact, the first link only casually dismisses the use of Euphorbia hirta), but I personally wouldn't use the substance. Then again, I don't live in a place where there's a risk of Dengue Fever... As for the main question - is it possible to get a closer photograph of the plant, particularly the flowers?
