Species
:
Mussaendra glabrata (
var.glabrata)
Linn
Local Name
: Dhobini phul
(Nep)
Synonym
:
Mussaendra frondosa
Linn.
Family : Rubiaceae
Habitat
:
A shrub
sometimes to a small tree. It usually occurs in tropical- temperate
belt in Sikkim.
Distribution
:
Distributed
chiefly in tropical and sub-tropical regions.
Sikkim
:
Hee- Gyathang, Passingdong- Bay, Yuksom-Tashiding, Rongli- Padamchen,
Keetam-Jorethang, Singtam-Dikchu, Pangthang- Samdong.
Outside : Tropical Himalaya, Assam, Andaman, Konkan, Deccan, Western Ghats of South Kannada, Malabar and Tinnevelly hills, Bhutan.
General
:
Himalaya (Kumaon- Bhutan), Meghalaya.
A rambling shrub, climbing by its long flexuous divaricated branches, which is cylindric and appressedly hairy (roughly glabrous). Leaves 7.5- 12.5 by 5- 9 cm broadly elliptic, shortly acuminate, more or less pubescent above, base rounded or often tapering into the petiole; 6- 25 mm, stipule twin and long, about 2.5 mm broad base linear lanceolate, acute, hairy. Flower in terminal peduncle stout buds densely hairy, calyx hairy, leaf like creamy white, persistent, ovate or elliptic. Corolla deep golden yellow; tube slender very hairy outside and with a dense lining of yellowish hairs. Berries subglobose, glabrous.
Flowering
:
June-August
Fruiting
:
September-October
History
:
Parts : Root, leaves and flowers.
Status : Low risk.
Phytochemistry
Ferulic acid, hyperin, quercetin, rutin, sinapic acid and β-sitosterol glucoside isolated from sepals (Indian J. Pharm. Sci. 1985, 47, 122).
Agrocultivation
Mussaendra species are
generally hardy and are propagated by seeds, cutting
or
layers.
Medicinal
In Konkan 1/2 a tola of
root is given with cow's urine in white leprosy. In
jaundice, 2 tolas of the white leaves given in milk. In Indo
China, the flowers are considered pectoral and diuretic. They
are given in asthma, intermittent fevers and dropsy. Externally
they are applied as a detergent to ulcers.
Traditional
The leaves
of the plants and flowers are used in external application for
ulcers; a weak decoction of dried shoot is given to children to
relief cough. The bitter root is considered alterative and
demuiscent and used in the treatment of the white leprosy and
eye troubles.
1.
Anonymous (1916). The Wealth of India. Raw materials (Vol. VI L
M). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi.
470- 471.
2. Greirson,
A.J.C & D.G Long (1999). The Flora of Bhutan (Vol. 2, part 2).
Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. 783.
3. Progress
Report of the Project "Studies on Medicinal Plants of Sikkim"
(1998- 2001). State Council of Science and Technology for
Sikkim.