Pers.Synonym: B. persica (Burm.f.) Kuntze.Family: Acanthaceae.
Habitat: Punjab and western Rajasthan.
English: Acanthus.Ayurvedic: Utangana, Kaamavridhi, Chatushpatri, Ucchataa (equated with Scirpus or Cyperus sp. during the classical period; with Shveta Gunjaa, Abrus sp. during the medieval period.)Unani: Utangan.Folk: Karadu (Maharashtra).Action: Roots—diuretic. Used for urinary discharges and dys- menorrhoea. Seeds—deobstruent, resolvent, diuretic (used in strangury and sexual debility). Powdered plant is applied locally on infections of the genitals and on burns.
Key application: Seed in dysuria and impotency. (The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India.)A benzoxazine glucoside, blephar- in, has been isolated from seeds, and a saponin, which on hydrolysis gave lupeol.Dosage: Dried seed—3-6 g powder. (API Vol. IV.)