Fiji's Salato Nettle
p. 28 · Read in the full issue
Letter to the Editor.
CAN any reader of your valuable paper inform me of cure for the sting of the “Salato” leaf? I have tried all sorts of remedies without success, even to the native “cure” of scraping the bark off both limbs and roots and rubbing on the affected parts; but without success.
Salato is “hot stuff warmed up,” in the way of a stinging leaf. Some five weeks ago I bumped into the large leaves and was stung from above the knees down to the bottom of my knees. I was wearing shorts at the time. The sting developed about half an hour after I touched the plant, and about two days after contact the stinging itch was fully developed.
To-day, five weeks after contact, the stinging itch comes on suddenly, especi ally at night, and the more you scratch or rub it the more it itches and stings, and you can’t refrain from rubbing it.
The salato leaf is a fine large green leaf, with pinkish ribs, quite smooth and shiny, no sign of downy fur, such as one would expect to find, as on a stinging nettle; and it is found all over Fiji bushlands.
I am, etc.,
Tui Nalovo.
Vanua Levu, Fiji, March 16.