chamber bitter
Family
EuphorbiaceaeScientific Name
Phyllanthus urinaria
Other Common Names:
niuri
Habit
Chamberbitter is a warm season annual weed plant. It is a small tropical annual herb growing up to 2 feet tall.
Leaves
Leaves of Chamberbitter are alternate. They have stipules, ovate-lanceolate, and the base is conspicuously auriculate. The petioles are very short and the blades are papery, oblong or oblong-obovate or nearly linear.
Identifying Characteristics
Chamberbitter is used for curing blennorrhagia, diabetes, dysentery, flu, tumors, jaundice, vaginitis, against headache, fever, conjungtivitis, menstrual disorders and dyspepsia. It is used against colic, as an effective remedy to eliminate gall and kidney stones. It is also used for urinary tract infection, bladder inflammation and for other kidney and liver problems.
Flower Seed Head
Chamberbitter has greenish white flowers. A very small wart-like fruit, greenish-red, is underneath every pair of the feathered leaves.
Seed Fruit
Capsules globose, are 2 to 2.5 mm across. They are with reddish blotches and scurfy-tuberculate, fruiting sepals, styles and columella persistent.
Where Found
Chamberbitter is found in most of the US.
Growth Habit
Varies:
upright and nonwoody,
prostrate and nonwoody
Thorns or Spines
not present
Approximate Flower Diameter
Varies:
pencil,
dime
Dominant Flower Color
Varies:
white,
green
Flower Symmetry
radial symmetery
Leaf Hairs
no hairs
Leaf Shape
Varies:
round,
lance,
oval
Leaf Arrangement
alternate
Leaf Margin
entire
Leaf Structure
simple
Leaf Stalk
none
Stem Hairs
no hairs
Stem Cross Section
round or oval
Milky Sap
not present
Root Structure
fibrous
Life Cycle
summer annual
Ochrea
not present
Plant Type
Herb