Morphological information

A small tree with a much- branched head. Leaves deciduous, 3- foliolate; petioles 3.8- 7.6 an ovate, lanceolate or obovate, acute or acuminate, attenuate at the base, entire, glabrous on both surfaces, pale beneath and reticulately veined, the lateral leaflets oblique at the base; petioles 6- 9 mm long. Flowers many in dense terminal corymbs, greenish white; pedicels 2.5 – 4.4 cm long, stout, glabrous. Sepals petaloid, small distant, ovate, acute. Petals (including the claw) nearly 2.5 by 0.9 cm; claw up to 6mm long very narrow. Stamens longer than the petals, spreading gynophore nearly 5 cm long, terete, smooth or scurfy berry, on the thickened gynophore. Seeds embedded in pulp, nearly smooth, brown. The filaments of the stamens are purple or white when young, lilac when old; the gynophore is lilac; the sepals green when young, yellow or pale pink when old.

Flowering                          : March-April

Fruiting                             : July- August

History                             :

Parts                                : Whole plant.

Status                              : Low risk.

Phytochemistry

Pharmocognostic studies of leaf; lauric, stearic, undecylic, oleic and linolenic adds from root bark; a new triterpene alcohol- lupa- 21, 20(29) dien-3-Beta- oI (I) isolated from root bark, ceryl alcohol, friedelin, betulinic add and diosgenin from bark; cetyl alcohol, ceryl alcohol, triacontane, tdriaconatanol, Betadsitosterol and glucocapparin from fruits; seasonal variation found in diosgenin content.

Agrocultivation

1. Kirtikar, K.R. & B.D. Basu. Indian Medicinal Plants with illustrations. Oriental Enterprises. Rajpur Road, Dehradun, Uttaranchal 256- 259.

2. Anonymous (1992). The Useful Plants of India. Publications and Information Directorate, CSIR, New Delhi. 145.

3. Progress Report of the Project "Studies on Medicinal Plants of Sikkim" (1998- 2001). State Council of Science and Technology for Sikkim.

 

Ayurvedic

The bark is hot, bitter at first and then sweet sharp taste; easy to digest; stomachic, laxative, antilithic, vesicant, anthelmintic, detergent, bechic, expectorant; removes "Vata" good in strangury diseases of the chest and the blood, tuberculosis glands, causes biliousness.The flowers are astringent and cholagogue. The fruit is sweet and oily; laxative, removes "Vata", "Pitta". and "kapha".

Unani: The bark promotes appetite, decreases the secretion of the bile and phlegm and removes disorders of the urinary organs.

 

Others

 The bark is demulscent, antipyretic, sedative, alterative and tonic and the fresh leaves and root bark are rubefacient. The bark is useful in some uses of urinary complaints and fever and in some mild forms of skin diseases in which sarasaparilla is generally resorted to. It also relieves vomiting and other symptoms of gastric irritation. The fresh leaves and root bark, particularly the former, are very efficacious in all the affections in which mustard poultice is indicated.Bruised well with a little vinegar limejuice or hot water and applied to the skin in the form of a poultice or paste, the fresh leaves act as a rubefacient and vesicant. The plant in combination with other drugs is recommended for the treatment of snakebite and scorpion sting.

In Ceylon the bruised roots, leaves and seeds are applied to the wounds, the leaves are used for gouty swellings. In Bombay, they are a remedy for swelling of the feet and a burning sensation in the soles of the feet. In Konkani the juice is given in rheumatism In caries of the bones of the nose, the leaf is smoked and the smoke inhaled through the nose. A couple of buds pounded with salt are taken before meals to promote the appetite. In indigestion, they must be given after meals.

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