Tahid-labuyo is found from Mindanao to Northern Luzon from sea level to an altitude of 1,400 meters. It also occurs in India to East Africa, China, Malaya and Austalia.
It is a scandent or strangling, smooth shrub, growing from 2 to 4 meters in length, the branches of which are armed with stout, sharp straight, or somewhat recurved spines, 1 to 1.5 centimeters long. The leaves are elliptic-ovate to oblong-ovate tapering to a short point, and the base rounded. The heads are solitary or in pairs, rounded and short-peduncled. The female heads are 7 to 8 centimeters in diameter, yellowish, dense, and in fruit, fleshy and up to 5 centimeters in diameter.
According to Burkill the heartwood produces a yellow dye which is used in the Batik Industry in Java. Mixed with indigo, it produces a green dye. In the Moluccas the young leaves are eaten raw.
As to its medicinal properties, in the Philippines a decoction of the roots is given to alleviate coughing and for gastralgia. Burkill reports that in Sarawak the plant is used after childbirth. In the Mollucas the ground wood is made into paste and applied as a cooling agent in fevers.
Other name: kokom-pusa, patdang labuyo, tahid labuyo, talobtob, talolong.
Scientific name: Vaniera cochinchinensis loureiro
Source: Medicinal Plants of the Philippines by Eduardo Quisumbing