Gen info
• Sida is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae, distributed in tropical and sub-tropical regions worldwide. Plants are generally known as fanpetals or sidas. (5)
• Taxon conflicts: Sida has historically been a wastebasket taxon, including many plants that does the fit into the other genera of Malvaceae. Thje circumscription remains unclear. Over 1000 names have been placed in the genus; while many authorities accept about 150 to 250 valid names today. Some sources accept as few as 98 species. POWO accepts 275 species. (5)
• Ecology: Sidas are attractive to butterflies and moths. (5)
- Etymology: The genus name Sida derives from the Greek for "pomegranate or water lily". Carl Linnaeus adopted the name from the writings of Theophrastus. (5)

Botany
• Igat-igat is a trailing, herbaceous plant, with stems growing up to 60 centimeters in length. Plant is covered with scattered, stellate hairs or is nearly smooth. Leaves are orbicular-ovate, and 2 to 7 centimeters long, with pointed tip, prominently heart-shaped base, and margins that are coarsely toothed; and sometimes obscurely lobed. Peduncles are solitary, elongated, and borne at the axils of the leaves. Calyx is green, about 5 millimeters long, with triangular, pointed segments. Corolla is yellow, about 7 millimeters in diameter. Fruit is a capsule consisting of 5 carpels, each 2-awned at the apex, the awns being slender and nearly as long as the carpels.

• Sida javensis is an annual, procumbent herb up to 70 cm (28 inches) tall, rooting at the nodes. Leaves are ovate or subcordate, up to 30 cm (1.2 inches) long. Flowers are yellow, solitary, forming in the axils of the leaves. Fruit is spherical, about 3 mm in diameter. Species is closely related to S. cordata, differing by having fewer hairs along the stems, roots forming at the nodes, a glabrous filament tube, and 2 awns on the mericarp. (Wikipedia)

Distribution
- Native to the Philippines. (4)
- In dry thickets, along trails, etc., at low altitudes.
- In Luzon: Bataan, Laguna, NCR, Pangasinan, Rizal; Mindanao: Mindoro; Pany.
- Also native to Angola, Benin, Burkina, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, India, Ivory Coast, Jawa, Kenya, Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Liberia, Malawi, Malaya, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan-South Sudan, Taiwan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Vietnam. (2)

Parts used
Whole plant, leaves, fruits.

Uses
Edibility
- No information on edibility.
Folkloric
- Entire plant or leaf decoction used as specific for gonorrhea.
- In Cameroon, decoction of fruit and leaves used for boils and liver disorders; also to ease delivery.
- Roots used for treatment of snake bites, rheumatic pains, tuberculosis, and malaria. Also used for boils, fevers, heart disease, hemorrhoids, asthma, bronchitis, and pneumonia. (8)

Studies
• Antioxidant / Schistosomicidal: According to a general article on Sida, out of 17 plants with documented pharmacological effects, 11 have antioxidant properties, which included S. javensis. Also mentioned, schitosomicidal activity by aqueous extract of whole plant on a Schistosoma mansoni-infected mice model. (No details reported / No abstracts available) (3)

Availability
Wild-crafted.

DOI: It is not uncommon for links on studies/sources to change. Copying and pasting the information on the search window or using the DOI (if available) will often redirect to the new link page. (Citing and Using a (DOI) Digital Object Identifier)