Botany
Badok is a woolly, extremely variable annual herb, 10 to 40 centimeters in height. Leaves are woolly on both surfaces, linear-spatulate or oblong-spatulate, 2.5 to 5 centimeters long, 0.4 to 1 centimeter wide, and blunt-tipped. Inflorescences are terminal, bearing crowded clusters of glistening, yellow heads. Involucral bracts are oblong. Achenes are ribbed or tubercled and have minute curved bristles.

Distribution
- In open places, chiefly at medium altitudes, ascending to 2,400 meters.
- In Ifugao, Lepanto, Bontoc, Benguet Subprovinces; in Cagayan, Pangasinan and the Camarines Provinces in Luzon.
- Native of Europe and Asia.
- Occurs in India to China, Japan and Taiwan, and southward to Borneo and Australia.

Properties
- Leaves considered astringent, cholagogue, diuretic, febrifuge, hemostatic and vulnerary.

Constituents
- Study has yielded protective flavonoids, calycopterin and 3'-methoxycalycopterin from the leaf wax.
- Crude extracts yielded 5,4′-dihydroxy-6-methoxy-7-O-β-glucopyranosideflavone (hispidulin-7-O-glucopyranoside) (1) and stigmasterol-3-O-β-glucopyranoside (2). (See study below) (6)
- Phytochemical screening of the plant revealed alkaloids, carbohydrates, phenols, saponins, flavonoids, tannins, glucoside resins, phytosterins, terpenoids and fixed oils. (9)

Parts used
Leaves.

Uses
Edibility
- Leaves, raw or cooked. (10)
Folkloric
- In the Punjab, leaves are used as vulnerary and astringent.
- In Pakistan, used as anti-diarrheal.
- Infusion of aerial parts used as emmenagogue.
- Used as a counter-irritant for gout.
- In Bangladesh, plant is used by the Garo tribe, crushed along with dried fish and applied as a poultice to heal fractured bones. Also, used by the Kavirajes of Chalna as tonic, and for tumor, gout, and dermatitis. (3)
- In Nigerian folk medicine used as antiabortive, cyanogenetic, demulcent, diuretic, emollient, intoxicant, blood tonic. Also used for treatment of cancer, epilepsy, flux, stomach ache, and malaria.
Others
- Leaves used as tinder. (10)
- Leaves used as fodder. (12)
- Ethnoveterinary: In Angola, leaves used in contagious pleuropneumonia in cattle and goats. (12)

Studies
• Flavonoids / Antiseptic: Study of aerial parts yielded flavonoid compounds 5, 7, 3, 4 tetrahydroxy flavone; 5, 3, 4 trihydroxy flavonol and 3, 5 dihydroxy flavonol. Flavonoids were investigated as antiseptic against 4 bacterial and 2 pathogenic fungal strains. (4)
• Antifungal: Study of acetone crude extract of leaves showed strong antifungal activity when tested against pathogenic plant fungi in vitro. No cytotoxicity of isolated compounds against Vero kidney cells was observed. (see constituents above) (6)
• Cytotoxicity / Leaves: Study evaluated the cytotoxic activity of crude methanol extract of leaves against healthy mouse fibroblasts (NIH3T3), healthy monkey kidney (VERO), and four human cancer cell lines (gastric, AGS, colon, HT-29, and breast MCF-7 and MDAMB-231) using MTT assay. Results showed high cytotoxicity against AGS and MCF cell lines with IC50 0.98 and 0.34 mg/ml respectively. (9)

Availability
Wild-crafted.

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(1)
Review: Advances in flavonoid research since 1992 / Jeffry Harborne, Christine Williams / Phytochemistry 55 (2000) 481-504
(2)
PLANTS OF POTENTIAL MEDICINAL VALUE / uicnmed.org
(3)
Medicinal plants of the Garo tribe inhabiting the Madhupur forest region of Bangladesh / Manzur-ul-Kadir Mia, Mohammad Fahim Kadir et al / American-Euras ian Journal of Sus tainable Agriculture, 3(2): 165-171, 2009
(4)
Biochemical studies on Gnaphalium luteo album L. 2.-Flavonoids content [Egypt] / Hassan, R.A. (Mansoura Univ. (Egypt). Faculty of Agriculture) / Journal of Agricultural Sciences, Mansoura Univ. (1988)
(5)
A SURVEY OF MEDICINAL PLANTS USED BY KAVIRAJES OF CHALNA AREA, KHULNA DISTRICT, BANGLADESH / Mohammed Rahmatullah et al / Afr. J. Trad. CAM (2010) 7 (2): 91 - 97
(6)
In vitro antifungal activity of the acetone extract and two isolated compounds from the weed, Pseudognaphalium luteoalbum / M.A. Aderogba, L.J. McGaw, V.P. Bagla, J.N. Eloff, B.M. Abegaz / South African Journal of Botany, Volume 94, September 2014, Pages 74–78
(7)
Laphangium luteoalbum / Synonyms / The Plant List
(8)
Laphaangium lutealbum / Common names / Euro+Med PlantBase
(9)
The Medical Benefit of Gnaphalium Luteoalbum-A Review / Ali Esmail Al-Snafi / IOSR Journal of Pharmacy, May 2019; 9(5): pp 40-44
(10)
Gnaphalium luteoalbum / Practical Plants
(11)
Pseudognaphalium luteo album / / Christopheer Wiart / Medicinal Plants of Bangladesh and West Bengal: Botany, Natural Products. . .
(12)
Traditional knowledge on ethno-veterinary and fodder plants in South Angola: an ethnobotanic field survey in Mopane woodlands in Bibala, Namibe province / Piero Bruschi, Valeria Urso, David Solazzo, Matteo Tonini, Maria Adele Signorini / Journal of Agriculture and Environment for International Development - JAEID, 2017; 111(1): pp 105-121 / DOI: 10.12895/jaeid.20171.559