This beach-growing Morning Glory has a leaf with the shape of a goat’s foot, thus its common name, Goat’s Foot also called Salsa da Praia (Ipomoea pes-caprae), among a number of other common names.
Goat’s Foot (and its subspecies) is one of the most common widely distributed salt tolerant plants in the world and sets an example of how plants can be spread due to oceanic dispersal, with its seeds floating on salt water to find new lands.
Goat’s Foot is an excellent sand-stabilizer, and it is often found easily tolerating the sand blast and salt spray common to sand dunes. It also makes an excellent fast-growing ornamental ground cover. Goat’s Foot is found on the tropical shores of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans.
Goat’s Foot is commonly used in traditional medicine in the regions it is found, and it is also used as an emergency source of food. Its traditional medicine use has been reported in Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, Philippines, Bahamas, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, India, French Guiana, and Hawaii. Its leaves are reportedly cooked and eaten as a vegetable, and its roots are also cooked—both have a laxative effect though in large quantities, so they are normally only eaten in times of need.
In Australia, the Aboriginal people long used it as a treatment from sting ray and stone fish stings by making a heated poultice and applying directly to the affected skin.
In India it is used in ritual baths for spiritual uses. In Brazil it is also used for reducing fatigue and weakness as a decoction into an herbal bath.
In Brazil, it is an important traditional medicinal used for inflammations, pain and gastrointestinal conditions, and in the Philippines, it is also used for inflammation, rheumatism, hemorrhoids, and colic.
In Hawaii, a poultice is used on sprained joints and young leaf buds eaten to induce labor. The seeds are also reported to be good for digestion when chewed.
Through scientific investigation Goat’s Foot has been found to have anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, wound-healing, antiophidic and anti-rheumatic properties providing evidence for some of its traditional uses, and in a recent preclinical study relieved pain and inflammation from jellyfish venom. Perhaps appropriate to its beach-dwelling habit, it has also recently been found to have potential anti-aging applications, with induction of collagen production and promoting cellular proliferation in human fibroblasts.
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*This content is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice or to take the place of such advice or treatment from a personal physician.
Photo by Vengolis