Spreng.
Family: Labiatae; Laminceae.
Habitat: Throughout India in cultivated fields, wastelands, roadsides.
English: White Dead Nettle.
Ayurvedic: Dronpushpi, Phalepush- paa, Kutambaka.
Siddha/Tamil: Thumbai.
Folk: Guumaa, Halkusa (smaller var.), Tumbaa.
Action: Carminative, antihis- taminic, antipyretic, febrifuge, antiseptic. Used in jaundice, anorexia, dyspepsia, fever, helminthic manifestation, respiratory and skin diseases.
Flowers—given with honey for coughs and colds to children. Leaves— juice is used as an external application for psoriasis, chronic skin eruptions and painful swellings.An alcoholic extract of leaves shows antibacterial activity.The plant gave oleanolic acid, urso- lic acid and beta-sitosterol. The root contains a triterpenoid, leucolactone, and the sterols, sitosterol, stigmasterol and campesterol.
Linn.
Family: Amaranthaceae.
Habitat: Throughout the tropical and subtropical regions, up to an altitude of 2,100 m, in the southern Andaman Islands.
English: Prickly Chaff Flower.
Ayurvedic: Apaamaarga, Chirchitaa, Shikhari, Shaikharika, Adahshalya, Mayura, Mayuraka, Kharamanjari, Kharapushpaa, Pratyakpushpaa, Aaghaat, Vashira, Kanihi.
Unani: Chirchitaa.
Siddha/Tamil: Naayuruvi.
Folk: Chirchitta, Chichidaa, Latjeeraa.
Action: Astringent, pectoral (ashes of the plant used in asthma and cough), diuretic, hepatoprotective, emmenagogue. Benzene extract of the plant exhibited abortifacient activity. The flowers, ground and mixed with sugar, are given for menorrhagia. Roots—astringent, haemostatic. Seeds—emetic; used for biliousness. Essential oil— antifungal.
Key application: As astringent, emetic. (Indian Herbal Pharmacopoeia.)Along with other therapeutic applications, The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India indicates the use of the whole plant in lipid disorders and obesity, the root for its blood-purifying property.The plant juice and ash are used for treating bleeding piles. An alkaline powder of the plant is used in preparing Kshaarasutra of Ayurvedic medicine, which is recommended for treating fistula-in-ano.The whole plant contains the alkaloids achyranthine and betaine. Achy- ranthine, a water-soluble alkaloid, is reported to dilate blood vessels, lower blood pressure, decrease heart rate and increase the rate and amplitude of respiration. It also shows spasmodic effects on the rectus muscle of frog, diuretic and purgative action in albino rats.The presence of ecdysterone and oleanolic acid is also reported in the root.The ashes of the plant yield large quantities of potash. The seeds yield saponins and oleanolic acid and its ester.The presence of tannins and glyco- sides is also reported in the plant.
Dosage: Whole plant—20-30 g for decoction. Root—5-10 g. (API Vols. II, III.) Ash—500 mg to 2 g. (CCRAS.)... achyranthes aspera
Roxb.
Synonym: T. integrifolia Ker-Gawl.
Habitat: Aka hills in Arunachal Pradesh.
Ayurvedic: Vaaraahikanda (substitute), Vaaraahi. (Dioscorea bulbifera is equated with Vaaraahikanda.)
Folk: Duukarkand (Gujarat).
Action: Tuber—nutritive and digestive; applied to haemorrhagic diathesis, cachexia, leprosy and other cutaneous affections.
The tuber contains gamma-amino- butyric acid, glycine, leucine, valine, quercetin-3-arabinoside, D (-)-ribose, n-triacontanol, betulinic acid, castano- genin and taccalin.
Habitat: Entire Deccan Peninsula, extending into Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.
English: Fiji Arrowroot, Tahiti Arrowroot.
Ayurvedic: Suurana. (Instead of wild var., cultivated elephant-foot- yam, Amorphophallus paeoniifolius var. campanulatus, is used.)
Siddha/Tamil: Karachunai.
Action: Tuber—acrid, astringent, carminative, anthelmintic. Used in the treatment of piles, haemophilic conditions, internal abscesses, colic, enlargement of spleen, vomiting, asthma, bronchitis, elephantiasis and intestinal worms.
The tuber, macerated and repeatedly washed with water, yield a starch (76.0%).The presence ofbeta-sitosterol, ceryl alcohol and taccalin (a bitter principle) has been reported in the tuber.Taccagenin and leontogenin have been isolated froma acid hydrolysate of leaf extract. Diosgenin and its derivatives, isonarthogenin and isonu- atigenin together with nuatigenin have also been isolated.A bitter extract, prepared by washing the grated tubers in running water, is a rubefacient; and is also given in diarrhoea and dysentery.... tacca aspera
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