Malvaceae

This prostrate or sometimes bushy plant with

yellow flowers is found in the tropical zones of

Central and South America. The Cuna Indians

(Darien, Panama) esteem the plant, which they

call kwala, as a "mystical medicine" (Duke 1975,

292*). A tea made from the leaves is consumed in

Bangladesh to help induce sleep (Ott 1993,419*).

Among the Maya, this species is known as

chichibeh ("the little one on the path"). On the

Mexican Gulf Coast, its leaves, like those of the

closely related Sida rhombifolia 1., are smoked as a

marijuana substitute (see Cannabis indica). The

two species are known locally as el macho, "the

male" (S. rhombifolia) , and la hembra, "the female"

(S. acuta) (Schultes and Hofmann 1980, 347*).

Both of these Sida species apparently contain

ephedrine (Schultes and Hofmann 1992, 56*).

When drying, the herbage of Sida acuta exudes a

distinct aroma of coumarin. The leaves are said to

contain saponins. Several studies of Caribbean

and Philippine specimens of Sida acuta have

demonstrated the presence of asparagine and

ephedrine in the roots (Wong 1976, 132*). The

alkaloids choline, pseudoephedrine, f3-phenethylamine,

vasicine, vascicine, vasinole, and vasicinone

have been found in all parts of Sida

rhomb~folia. The stem contains the indole alkaloids

hipaphorine, hipaphorine methylester, and cryptolenine.

The leaves contain traces of an essential oil.

The seeds contain sesquiterpenes (gosipol, et

cetera) (Argueta et al. 1994,615*).