Wigandia caracasana Health Dictionary

Kunth.

Family: Hydrophyllaceae.

Habitat: Native to tropical America; introduced into Indian gardens.

Action: Leaves and branch tips— a decoction is used in rheumatism; also for whooping cough and respiratory problems.

Solvent extracts of the leaves (etha- nol, acetone and M-hexane) were found active against Gram-positive bacteria.

Synonym: W. viridiflora Meissn. W. indica var. virdiflora Hook. f.

Family: Thymelaeaceae.

Habitat: Eastern Assam; as a weed in Tamil Nadu.

English: Small-Leaf Salago.

Folk: Salago.

Action: Root bark—diuretic, vesicant, purgative and piscicidal.

The root bark is reported to contain a flavone glycoside, wikstroemin, which exhibited diuretic activity.

In Chinese folk medicine, the bark is used for schistosomiasis.

The stem contains wikstromol, a lig- nin prototype which exhibited anti- neoplastic activity. Daphnoretin, isolated from the plant, caused platelet aggregation in the blood of rabbits. A polysaccharide, comprising glucose, arabinose, galacturonic acid, galactose and xylose, protected mice against radiation and enhanced the formation of macrophages.