Annot Health Dictionary

Linn.

Family: Lycopodiaceae.

Habitat: Indigenous to North America, Europe, Asia; found in Kumaon, eastwards in West Bengal, Sikkim, Asam, Khasi Hills, Manipur and in Western Ghats.

English: Common Club Moss.

Folk: Naaga-beli (Nepal), Bendarali (Maharashtra).

Action: Sedative, antispasmodic, diuretic. At one time used for urinary disorders (spasmodic retention of urine, catarrhal cystitis and chronic kidney disorders), and as a gastric sedative in gastritis.

The plant contains alkaloids (about 0.1-00.2%), including lycopodine, ly- codoline, faucettimine and lycoflexine; triterpenoids including clavatol and oxoserrat derivatives; flavonoids including apigenin; polyphenolic acids including dihydrocaffeic.

Lycopodine produces uterine contractions and stimulates peristalsis in the small intestines of rodents.

The plant contains (dry basis): lipid 4.06 and desmethylsterols 0.05%.

Used in homoeopathy for distended abdomen, cough, cystitis, renal colic and disorders of menstruation.

Chinese Club Moss, equated with Huperzia serrata, is a different herb. Its constituent, huperzine A is thought to be beneficial in dementia due to its effect on acetylcholine levels.

L. annotinum Linn., L. complanatum Linn. (American Club Moss) and L. selago Linn. are among other species of Lycopodium occurring in India.... lycopodium clavatum

The Exeter Traditional Medicines, Pharmacology and Chemistry Project. An expert data- base system that integrates on a cumulative basis annotated information about the chemistry, pharmacology and therapeutics of medicinal plants and their constituents from a range of sources. The conventional phytochemical literature, often exhaustively searched and assessed, is augmented by evidence from the areas of clinical pharmacology and ethnopharmacology, and the personal and recorded experience of practicing phytotherapists and herbalists. The material is entered into a knowledge base which is programmed to provide intelligent integration and weighting of the data. Director: Simon Y. Mills MA FNIMH, Centre of Complementary Health Studies, University of Exeter, Devon EX4 4PU. ... extract