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Detailed study of common plants and their parts used in the treatment of different diseases

M.Sc Botany

SELF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL

M.Sc Final

Paper VIII – Ethnobotany

Unit – V

Block – III

Madhya Pradesh Bhoj (Open) UniversityBhopal

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F - 08

BLOCK - III

ETHNOBOTANY

Unit – V Detailed Study of the common plants and their parts used in the treatment of different diseases.

Editor - Dr. (Smt.) Renu Mishra,HOD, Botany and MicrobiologySri Sathya Sai College for Women,Bhopal

Writer:- Miss. Neelam MewariAsstt. Professor, BotanyJaipur, Rajasthan

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UNIT 5 DETAILED STUDY OF COMMON PLANTS AND THEIR PARTS

USED IN THE TREATMENT OF DIFFERENT DISEASES

Structure

5.1 Introduction5.2 Objectives5.3 Detailed study of common plants and their parts in the treatment of following diseases: 5.3.1 Expulsion of worms 5.3.2 Skin diseases 5.3.3 Bronchial inflammation and Asthma 5.3.4 Tuberculosis 5.3.5 Urino genital problems 5.3.6 Amoebic dysentery 5.3.7 Malaria 5.3.8 Rheumatism 5.3.9 Leprosy 5.3.10 Jaundice 5.3.11 Heart diseases 5.3.12 Piles 5.3.13 Leucoderma 5.3.14 Blood purifier5.4 Let Us Sum Up5.5 Check Your Progress: The Key5.6 Assignment or Activities5.7 References

5.1 INTRODUCTIONMedicinal plants and knowledge of their use provide a vital contribution to human and livestock health care needs throughout the world. Plants are an important component of the agricultural and environmental sectors and have the potential to make major contributions to both macro and economic growth and rural poverty reduction in the different parts of the world. Today the important contribution of traditional knowledge and practices had given to our modern medicine can be attested from the fact that more than 40% of commonly prescribed medicines throughout the world found their origins directly or indirectly in plants or animals. These include several major life-saving drugs such as reserpine, atropine, quabin, vinblastine, vincristine and taxol. According to the estimate of the World Health Organisation, approximately 80% of the people in developing countries rely chiefly on traditional medicines for the primary health care, of which a

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major portion involves the use of plants extracts or active principles originating from parts of plants.In the previous units we have studied much about ethnobotany, different plants of ethnobotanical importance, mythological importance of plants and plants used in different system of medicine such as Ayurveda, Yunani, Homeopathy and Allopathy. In this unit, we will discuss the plants used in the treatment of different diseases.

5.2 OBJECTIVES

The main objective of this unit is to provide knowledge of different plants used in the treatment of various diseases. After going through this unit you will be able to:

1. Describe various medicinal plants, which are used to treat a particular disease.

5.3 DETAILED STUDY OF PLANTS AND THEIR PARTS USED IN THE TREATMENT OF VARIOUS DISEASES

Since time immemorial, people have gathered plant resources for their needs. Examples include edible nuts, mushrooms, fruits, herbs, spices, gums, game, fodder, fibers used for construction of shelter and housing, clothing or utensils, and plant or animal products for medicinal, cosmetic or cultural uses. Even today, hundreds of millions of people, mostly in developing countries, derive a significant part of their subsistence needs and income from gathered plant products. Gathering of high value products such as mushrooms, medicinal plants also continue in developed countries for cultural and economic reasons. Among these uses, medicinal plants play a central role as traditional medicines used in many cultures and tribes.

Plants and plant-based medicaments are the basis of many of the modern pharmaceuticals we used today for our various ailments. At one time, nearly all medicines were derived from biological resources. Even today they remain vital and as much as 67%-70% of modern medicines are derived from natural products. Nearly 80% of the world populations rely on traditional medicines for primary health care, most of which involve the use of plant extracts. In India, almost 95% of the prescriptions are plant-based in the traditional systems of Unani, Ayurveda, Homoeopathy, Siddha and even in western system of medicine i.e. Allopathy.

In this section, we will study about plants and their parts used for treatment of following diseases:

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5.3.1 Expulsion of worms: There are a number of plants that are used for the treatment of expulsion of worms. Vetiver is known for its anthelmintic property. The plant is described in detail below. Other plants are also described in this section.

Vetiveria zizanoides (Linn.) Nash. Family: Poaceae; Common Name: Vetiver, Khus Khus

Vetiver is a densely tufted, perennial grass, found growing on various types of soils. The underground part of the plant consists of numerous fine rootlets of light-yellow or grey to reddish colour which contain a viscous essential oil, with a pleasant and persistent odour. The commercial oil of vetiver is obtained by the distillation of the root. In India, the plant is known as ‘khus khus’. In India, it is found growing wild in the forests of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. It is also found in some parts of Assam, Jammu, Bihar, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Vetiver is indigenous to Indian subcontinent and is widely distributed in tropical Asia, Afica, Australia.

Botany: Vetiver is a tall (1.5-2.0 m) perennial grass. It has a small stout rhizomatous stolen which gives rise to spongy fibrous root system and it grows up to 20 to 30 cm deep in medium textured marginal soils under cultivation. The root are spongy, aromatic with fine rootlets. The plant grows into large clumps from dense tuft, bearing erect, linear narrow leaves with glabrous aerial stem.

Uses: The essential oil obtained from the roots constitutes Khusol, Khusone, Khusene, Veticelinol, Vetivone, and other sesquiterpenes. For commercial purpose, oil is used in perfumery. Medicinally, the oil is employed as antihelmintic agent also it possesses stimulant and refrigerant properties. It is locally applied to relieve pain in the body.

Allium sativum Linn. Family: Liliaceae; Common Name: Garlic

Botany: It is a strong smelling, glabrous, bulbous rooted, perennial herb about 1 feet of height. Garlic is easy to grow and can be grown year-round in mild climates. It is cultivated throughout the country.

Uses: Garlic is widely used around the world for its pungent flavour, as a seasoning or condiment. Medicinally, it is given in fever, cough, flatulence, disorder of nervous system, pulmonary phthisis, whooping cough and dilated bronchitis. It has antihelmintic properties. In modern naturopathy, garlic is used as a treatment for intestinal worms and other intestinal parasites, both orally and as an anal suppository. The bulbs are used for the purpose. When crushed, Allium sativum yields allicin, a powerful antibiotic and anti-fungal compound (phytoncide). It also contains alliin, ajoene, enzymes, vitamin B, minerals, and flavonoids.

Areca catechu Linn.Family: Palmaceae; Common Name: Arecanut

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Botany: A slender stemmed palm. It is native to Malaya. Among the principal states in India that grow arecanuts are Kerala, Karnataka, Assam, West Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

Uses: In Chinese medicine, seeds are used to kill intestinal parasites, decrease heart rate and lower the blood pressure (Huang 1993). It is known to contain methyl and ethyl esters of two reduced pyridine carboxylic acids as well as the methyl and ethyl esters of pyridine-3-carboxylic acid and piperidine-3-carboxylic acid (Holdsworth et al. 1998). Nicotine is also present in trace quantities.

Azadirachta indica A. JussFamily: Meliaceae; Common Name: Neem tree

Botany: A large tree 40 to 50 feet in height, common, wild or more often cultivated. Neem grows extensively in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.

Uses: The bark is tonic, astringent, alterative, antihelmintic, antispasmodic, and stimulant. The leaves are carminative, expectorant, antihelmintic, antidotal, diuretic, and insecticidal. The fruits recommended for urinary diseases, piles, leprosy, intestinal worms, etc.

Butea monosperma (Lamk.) TaubertFamily: Papilionaceae; Common Name: Bengal kino, Flame of the forest

Botany: A moderate-sized, deciduous tree, found throughout India, extending in the north-west Himalayas as far as Jhelum.

Uses: The plant has maintained its medicinal value since long time. Seeds of Butea monosperma are being used by traditional folk healers both as an antihelmintic and as an anti-fertility drug. The dried bark is aphrodisiac, astringent, appetizer, digestive, constipating, antihelmintic, and a tonic.

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Allium sativum Linn. Azadirachta indica A. Juss


Brucea javanica Merr.Family: Simaroubaceae; Common name: Brucia

Botany: A small, spreading tree, leaves are compound with 3-15 leaflets. Fowers in a raceme, stamen red. Fruits of 1-4 druplets, purple to black in colour when ripe.

Uses: Used to treat stomachache, malaria, dandruff and infestations by lice, tape-worms or thread-worms. Roots, leaves or fruits pounded and diluted with a little water and applied as paste or steeped in water for drinking.

Carica papaya L.Family: Caricaceae; Common Name: Papaya

Botany: The papaya tree is up to 25 feet in height. It is dioecious. The stem is succulent, with a crown of large, deeply seven lobed leaves and yellow flowers. The fruits are fleshy berries, resembling melons in size. It is native of West Indies and Central America. In India it is chiefly cultivated in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and the Nilgiris.

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Butea monosperma (Lamk.) Taubert

Brucea javanica Merr. Carica papaya L.


Uses: It is used as digestant. It has antihelmintic, laxative, tonic, nutritive and diuretic properties. Latex acts as antihelmintic. Unripe fruit is good for excretory troubles in children. It is a good aphrodisiac.It has wormicidal activity and it is good in cough.

Dryopteris filix-mas (L.) Schott: Family: Dryopteridaceae; Common name: Male fern

Botany: It is an evergreen fern of 1 to 1.5m height. The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil.

Uses: Dryopteris filix-mas is the most commonly used fern for medicinal purposes. Rootstalks of the plant are anodyne, antibacterial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, astringent, febrifuge, vermifuge and vulnerary. The root contains an oilyresin that paralyses tapeworm and other internal parasites and has been used as a worm expellent.

5.3.2 Skin diseases: A number of plants have been used to treat skin diseases in traditional system of medicine. The main known plant in India is Aloe vera. The plant is described below and other important plants are also described here.

Aloe vera Linn.Family: Liliaceae; Common name: Indian Aloe, Ghrita kumari

Aloe species are perennial succulents. Of the 275 species, there are three commercially important species which are the main sources of the drug. They are: Aloe vera, Aloe ferox and Aloe perryi. Aloe vera is the main species which yields ‘Indian aloe’. The plant is native to northern Africa. The plant is found throughout country.

Botany: It is a stemless or very short-stemmed plant growing to 80-100 cm tall, spreading by offset and root sprouts. The leaves are lanceolate, thick and fleshy, green to grey-green, with a serrated margin. The flowers are produced on a spike up to 90 cm tall, each flower pendulous, with yellow tubular corolla 2-3 cm long. The tissue in the center of the aloe leaf contains a gel which yields aloe gel or aloe vera gel.

Chemical constituents and Uses: Aloe vera has a long history of cultivation throughout the drier tropical and subtropical regions of the world, both as an ornamental plant and for herbal medicine. The sticky sap from the succulent leaves is applied to skin itches, cuts and burns. The sap is also used to relieve

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Dryopteris filix-mas (L.) Schott

Aloe vera Linn.


stomach-aches and as hair shampoo. The sap contains several compounds including hydroxyantraquinones barbaloin and aloe emodin; and also the hydroxychromones aloesin and aloesone.it is also useful for X-ray burns, dermatitis, cutaneous and disorders of skin. Pulp is iven to treat gonorrhoea and other urino genital problems.

Artocarpus heterophyllus Lamk.Family : Liliaceae; Common name: Jackfruit

Botany: A large tree, probably indigenous to the western ghats, ascending to 4,000 feet. The largest tree borne fruit in the world, jackfruits can sometimes weigh over 75 lbs. Average sized fruits are 1-2 feet long and 9-12” wide. Skin is green-yellow, with spiky knobs; flesh is custard yellow with a banana-like flavour. Leaves coriaceous, smooth, shining above, rough beneath.

Uses: The leaves are useful in fever, boils, wounds and skin diseases. Vitamin C, terpenes, flavones and pectic acid are known to occur in the plant.

Capsicum frutescens L.Family: Slanaceae; Common name: Red pepper

Botany: It is a herb, 2-3 feet in height, with entire ovate leaves, white flowers with a rotate corolla, and many seeded fruits, which are technically berries. It is native of West Indies and tropical America, most probably of Brazil. Commonly cultivated throughout India for its fruit.

Uses: Pounded leaves are poulticed on skin itches. The fruit is used to treat discomforts and common ailments associated with pregnancy. Leaves contain alkaloids and the fruits contain various essential oils.

Cassia alata L.Family: Fabaceae; Common name: Guajava, Candlestick

Botany: Guajava is a beautiful flowering shrub that grows upto 1-2 meter height. It produces pretty yellow flower in a column that resemble yellow candlesticks earning. It is native to Amazon Rainforest and can be found in Peru, Brazil, French Guiana, Suriname, Venezuela and Colombia.

Uses: Young leaves are crushed and applied as a paste for skin infections such as ringworm and scabies. Pounded leaves are used externally for stomach-aches. Guajava, like most Cassiai and Senna plants, contain a group of chemicals called anthraquinones. These chemicals are well known for their laxative effect.

Hypericum japonicum Thunb.Family: Hypericaceae; Common name: St. John’s Wort

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Cassia alata L.


It is an annual/perennial plant of 0.5 m height. Flowers are hermaphrodite. The plant prefers light (sandy), medium(loamy) and heavy (clay) soils.

Uses: Young leaves are used to treat skin diseases such as ringworm and shingles. The leaves arepounded and applied on affected parts. The plant is also used in the treatment of asthma, dysentery, hepatitis, and appendicitis.

Jatropha curcas Linn.Family: Euphorbiaceae; Common Name: Physic Nut, Biodiesel Plant

Botany: This is a shrub or small tree. It is native of tropical America., now cultivated along the Coromandel Coast and in Travancore.

Uses: The oil of the seeds is a purgative and alterative. The oil is locally applied to skin diseases likke eczema, herpes, itch, sores, etc. and bleeding wounds.

Check Your Progress 1

Notes: A) Write your answer in the space given below. B) Compare your answer with those given at the end of the unit.

i) Choose the correct answer1) Vetiver belongs to the following familya) Liliaceae b) Asteraceae c) Poaceae d) Malvaceae2) Artocarpus heterophyllus belongs to the following familya) Liliaceae b) Fabaceae c) Solanaceae d) Hypericaceae3) Dryopteris filix-mas ia known asa) Indian aloe b) Male Fern c) Coleus d) Flame of the forest4) Aloe vera is native toa) South Africa b) North Africa ) India d) Pakistan

ii) Give the medicinal uses of Carica papaya.…………………………………………………………………………………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………...…………………………………………………………………………………………..

5.3.3 Bronchial inflammation and Asthma: Ocimum sanctum, Brahmi and many other plants are known to treat bronchial inflammation and asthma. These plants are discussed below.

Bacopa monnieri (Linn.) PannelFamily: Scrophulariaceae; Common Name: Brahmi

Brahmi, botanically known as Bacopa monnieri, is found in the humid and warmer parts of the world. It is found throughout India in wet, damp and marshy areas. The genous Bacopa cosists of

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20 species of small herbaceous plants inhabiting the warm parts of the world, of which three are represented in India. The leaves contain the alkaloids brahmine and herpestine. The plant is considered one of the ‘celestial drugs’ (Divya ausadhi), when consmed with milk for six month.

Botany: A prostrate or creeping, juicy, succulent, glabrous, annual herb rooting at the nodes with numerous ascending branches. Leaves are simple, opposite, flowers pale blue or whitish. Fruits are ovoid, acute; seeds are minute, numerous. It is found throughout India in the wet places upto 1200 m elevation.

Chemical constituents and Uses: The plant contains saponins, bacoside A and B, monnierin, hersaponin, betulic acid, α- mannitol, stigmasterol, β-sitosterol and stigmastanol. The leaves contain the alkaloids brahmine and herpestine. Brahmi is astringent, bitter, cooling and pungent, it has emetic and laxative properties and it also improves the intellect and is useful in bed ulcers, tumours and enlargement of spleen. The entire plant is used in indigenous system of medicine as a nerve tonic, and cure epilepsy and insanity. It is used as a diuretic and for treating asthma, sore throat, dermatosis, anaemia, dropsy, arthritis, dyspepsia, cough, fever, rheumatism. Besides this, brahmi controls disorders and impurity of blood. The herb is known to contain saponins, monnierin, hersaponin, bacoside-A.

Ocimum sanctum Linn.Family: Labiateae; Common Name: Holy basil,Tulsi

Botany: This is an erect softy hairs aromatic herb or undershrub. It is found throughout India.

Chemical constituents and uses: Whole plant of Ocimum sanctum Linn (known as Tulsi in Hindi), have been recommended for the treatment of bronchitis, bronchial asthma, malaria, diarrhoea, dysentery, skin diseases, arthritis, painful eye diseases, chronic fever, insect bite etc. the leaf juice is also used to check vomiting. The Ocimum sanctum has also been suggested to possess antifertility, anticancer, antidiabetic, antifungal, antimicrobial, hepatoprotective, cardioprotective, antispasmodic, analgesic, adaptogenic and diaphoretic actions. Eugenol (1-hydroxy-2-methoxy-4-allylbenzene), the active constituent present in Ocimum sanctum, has been found to be largely responsible for the therapeutic potentials of Tulsi.

Adhatoda vasica Nees.Family: Acanthaceae; Common Name: Vasaka

Botany: This is a perennial shrub. An evergreen shrub about 4-8 feet in height. Leaves are eleptic, lanceolate, acuminate, dark green above, pale beneath. Flowers in short dense-axillary peduncled spikes, white with pink or purple stripes. Flowers after rainy season. It is found throughout plains of India and sub-Himalayas tract up to 4,000 feet.

Uses: the leaves contain an alkaloid vascine; they are a powerful expectorant and antispasmodic. A decoction of the leaves or their powder is also given, especially for chronic bronchitis and asthma. The flowers and fruits are bitter, aromatic and antispasmodic.

Allium sativum Linn.

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Family: Liliaceae; Common Name: Garlic (Lasun, Lasan)

Botany: It is a strong smelling, glabrous, bulbous rooted, perennial herb about 1 feet of height. Garlic is easy to grow and can be grown year-round in mild climates. It is cultivated throughout the country.

Uses: As syrup, it is a remedy for asthma and disorders of chest and lungs.

Costus speciosus S.Family: Zingiberaceae; Common Name: Crape ginger

Botany: Crape ginger is possibly the best-known cultivated species of the genus Costus. This plant is native to Southeast Asia, especially on the Greater Sunda Island in Indonesia. Costus differs from common ginger by having only one row of spirally arranged leaves. The species reproduces vegetatively by rhizome and birds disperse seeds and when they feed on the fruits. It is tall and dramatic landscape plant with large dark green leaves arranged on the stalk in a spiral. It can grow to 10 feet.

Uses: This plant has many historical uses in Ayurveda, where rhizome has been used to treat fever, rash, asthma, bronchitis, and intestinal worms. Peeled stems are steeped in hot water and taken by patient with asthma or influenza.

Eucalyptus globules Labill.Family: Myrtaceae; Common Name: Tasmanian Blue Gum

Botany: A tree, native of Australia, now cultivated chiefly in the Nilgiris, the Anamalias, the Pulney hills, Shimla hills and at Shilong in Meghalaya.

Uses: the leaves are the source o fan essential oil known as ‘eucalyptus oil’, which is used in the treatment of asthma and bronchitis. The oil is antiseptic, used in infections of the upper respiratory tract and certain skin diseases. The root is purgative.

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L.Family: Malvaceae; Common Name: Gurhal

Botany: An evergreen, ornamental bush, 5-8 feet; leaves bright green, ovate, entire below; flowers solitary axillary. It is native to China. Grown as an ornamental plant in gardens throughout India and often planted as hedge plant.

Uses: Pounded leaves, with a little salt, are applied as a paste to cuts, swollen fingers, boils and sprains. Sap from shoots is taken

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Costus speciosus S.

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L.


for asthma. Crushed flowers are squeezed onto boils and as poultice for wounds and swelling.

Mimosa pudica Roxb.Family: Fabaceae; Subfamily: Mimosoideae; Common Name: Touch-me-not, Sensitive plant, Humble plant, Shame plant.

Botany: Mimosa pudica, is a creeping annual or perennial herb often grown for its curiosity value: the compound leaves fold inward and droop when touched, reopening within minutes. The species is native to South America and Central America. The stem is erect in young plants, but becomes creeping or trailing with age. The stem is slender, branching, and sparsely to densely prickly, growing to a length of 1.5 m. the leaves are bipinnately compound. The fruit consists of clusters of 2-8 pods from 1-2 cm long.

Uses: A root decoction is taken to ease headache or dizzy spells. A paste of the whole plant is applied to cuts and wounds. A root decoction is taken to relieve asthma and diarrhoea. It is also used to treat neurosis and has a tranquilising effect. A decoction is used externally on wounds and he-moptysis and used as a sedative. The roots contain the alkaloid mimosine as well as sitisine and related alkaloids.

Santalum album Linn.Family: Santalaceae; Common Name: White sandal wood (Safed chandan)

Botany: A small, evergreen tree, is a native of highlands of South India and the Malayan Archipelago. In India, more than 90% lies in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Other states the sandal tree are distributed include Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Manipur.

Uses: Sandalwood is useful to treat bronchial inflammation. Also local people commonly apply the wood ground up with water into a paste to local inflammations to the temples in fevers and skin diseases to allay heat.

5.3.4 Tuberculosis

Asparagus racemosus Willd.Family: Liliaceae; Common Name: Asparagus, Satavari, Naarbod.

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Mimosa pudica Roxb.

Santalum album Linn.


Botany: A much branched, spinous under-shrub, with tuberous, short rootstock bearing numerous fusiform, succulent, tuberous roots. The plant is found in the jungles around 8,000 feet altitude throughout India, especially Northern India.

Uses: The roots are emollient, cooling, nervine, tonic, constipating. They are useful in nervous disorders, dyspepsia, and tumours, scalding of urine, throat infections, tuberculosis, cough, bronchitis and general debility.



i) Name the common plants that are used to treat bronchial inflammation and asthma.ii) Which plant is known as biodiesel plant? Also write the family of the plant.iii) Match the following

Adhatoda vasica LabiateaeBacopa monnieri Touch me notOcimum sanctum VasakaMimosa pudica MyrtaceaeEucalyptus Brahmi

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Cedrus deodara Roxb.Family: Pinaceae; Common Name: Deodar

Botany: An evergreen tree growing up to 75 m. It is found in the North-Western Himalayas from Kashmir to Garhwal. Uses: The heartwood is carminative, diaphoretic, diuretic and expectorant. A decoction of he wood is used in the treatment of fevers, pulmonary and urinary disorders, rheumatism, piles, kidney stones, diabetes etc. It has been used as an antidote to snakebite. In Ayurvedic medicine the leaves are used in the treatment of tuberculosis.

Pinus contorta Douglas. ex Loudon.Family: Pinaceae; Common Name: Beach Pine

Botany: It is also an evergreen tree height upto 15 m.

Uses: Beach pine was widely used employed medicinally by several native North American tribes who used it especially for its antiseptic and healing properties on wounds, infections etc. The inner bark is taken as blood purifier, diuretic, cathartic and to treat tuberculosis.

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Rubus occidentalis L. Family: Rosaceae; Common Name: Black Raspberry

Botany: A deciduous shrub growing up to 3 m.

Uses: The roots are cathartic. A decoction of the roots is used in the treatment of gonorrhoea. It is also used in the treatment of tuberculosis. An infusion of the astringent root and bark is used in the treatment of diarrhoea and dysentery. The leaves are highly astringent.

5.3.5 Urino genital problems: In traditional medicinal system a number of plants are used to treat urino-genital problems. Isabgol, Amaranthus, Centella, Aloe etc. have been known to treat the disease. Isabgol is described in section 5.3.6.

Amaranthus spinosus L.Family: Amaranthaceae Common Name: Amaranthus

Botany: It is an annual plant growing to a height of 0.6 m.

Uses: The plant is astringent, diaphoretic, diuretic, amollient and febrifuge. The root is emmenagogue and galactogogue. It is used in the treatment of menorrhagia, gonorrhoea, eczema and colic.

Aloe barbedensis Mill.Family: Liliaceae; Common Name: Indian aloe

Botany and Uses: See section 5.3.2

Centella asiatica (L.) Urban.Family: Umbellifereae; Common Name: Indian Pennywort, Brahmi

Botany: This is common trailing herb, rooting at the nodes. Commonly found throughout the India.

Uses: The fresh juice of leaves mixed with milk is given as an alterative in gonorrhoea. This is also useful for children in skin diseases ad for improving the blood and nervous system. It is also a blood purifier.

Hemidesmus indicus R. Br. Family: Asclepiadaceae; Common Name: Indian Sarsaparilla

Botany: This is a twining shrub, commonly found in South India.

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Centella asiatica (L.) Urban.


Uses: The roots are used as substitute for sarsaparilla; they are sweet, demulcent, alterative, blood purifier, diuretic, tonic and diaphoretic. They are given in loss of appetite, dyspepsia, fever, skin diseases, syphilis, leucorrhoea, genito-urinary diseases, chronic cough.

Myrica nagi Thumb.Family: Myrtaceae; Common Name: Bay Berry

Botany: This is a tree. It is native to China and Japan, now found in the sub-tropical Himalayas, the Khasia hills and Assam.

Uses: The bark is astringent, stimulant, carminative, tonic, resolvent. It is a good remendy in fevers, affections of the chest, asthma, bronchitis and urino genital problems.

Pinus roxburghii Sar. Family: Pinaceae; Common Name: Long Needled Pine

This tree is found in the Western and eastern Himalayas.

Uses: The oleo-resin popularly known as gandh-biroza, is a stimulant, stomachic and diuretic. It is given in gonorrhea, gleet and other disorders of genito-urinary organs.

Rubus occidentalis L. Family: Rosaceae; Common Name: Black raspberry

Botany and uses: See section 5.3.4

Saraca indica Linn.Family: Caesalpinaceae; Common Name: Asoka Tree

Botany: This is a spreading evergreen tree; native of India; commonly found in central and east Himalayas, Bengal and West Peninsula.

Uses: The bark is astringent. Its decoction is given in uterine disorders, especially in menorrhagia and leucorrhoea. The decoction is also an efficacious remedy for piles and dysentery. The dried flowers are given in diabetes.

5.3.6 Amoebic dysentery

Plantago ovata Forsk.Family: Plantaginaceae; Common Name: Isabgol

Plantago is a large genus of herbs and subshrubs of the family Plantaginaceae distributed mostly in the temperate regions and a few in the tropics. Plantago ovata, commonly known as isabgol or blonde psyllium or Indian plantago, is valued for its seeds and husks which have been used in indigenous medicine for many centuries.

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The plant is indigenous to Persia and west Asia, extending up to the Sutlez, Sind and West Pakistan.

Botany: Plantago ovata is a stemless or short stemmed, annual herb which attains a height of 30-40 cm. It has alternate leaves. The flowers are white, minute and four-parted. The capsule is ovate, seeds are pinkish grey brown or pinkish white with a brown streak on the convex surface. The seeds are covered with a transluscent membrane, known as the husk, which is odourless and tasteless.

Chemical constituents and Uses: The husk of the seed is the economic part and is separated by a physical method. The seed-husk contain a colloidal mucilage (30%), mainly consisting of xylose, arabinose, galacturonic acid with rhamnose and galactose, etc. the seedalso contain some oil and small amounts of glycoside acubin and tannin. The husk is beneficial in chronic dysenteries of amoebic and bacillary origin. The seeds and husks are also used to cure inflammations of the mucous membranes of gastro-intestinal and genito-urinary tracts, duodenal ulcers, gonorrhoea and piles.

Butea monosperma (Lamk.) TaubertFamily: Papilionaceae; Common Name: Bengal kino, Flame of the forest

Botany and Uses: See Section 5.3.1.

Emblica officinalis Gaertn.Family: Euphorbiaceae; Common Name: Emblic, Amla

Botany: A moderate-sized deciduous tree, found throughout tropical India. The tree possesses smooth, greenish grey, exfoliating bark; leaves feathery with small, pinnately arranged leaflets; fruits depressed globose and fleshy.

Uses: The dried fruit is given in diarrhoea, dysentery and haemorrhage.

Lawsonia innermis Linn.Family: Lythraceae; Common Name: Henna, Egyptian privet, Mehndi, Hina

Botany: A small, elegant and sweetly scented bush. The plant may be grown in any type of soil, but thrive best on heavy soils, which are retentive of moisture. In India, it is grown as a hedge plant; as a commercial dye crop, it is chiefly cultivated mainly in Haryana and Gujarat, and to a small extent in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. The most important centres of

17

Emblica officinalis

Lawsonia innermis Linn.


production are- Faridabad in Haryana and Bardoli and Surat district of Gujarat.

Uses: Leaves are useful in wounds ulcers strangury cough, bronchitis, dysentery, etc. The fruit is thought to have emmenagogue properties. The roots are bitter, refrigerant, depurative, diuretic, emmenagogue, abortifacient and trichogenous and are useful in burning sensation, leprosy, skin diseases and amenorrhoea.

Strychnos nux-vomica Linn.Family: Loganiaceae; Common Name: Nux-Vomica, Kuchla

Botany: The Strychnine tree also known as Nux vomica, is an evergreen tree. It is a medium-sized tree growing in open habitats. Its leaves are ovate and 3.5 by 2 inches (~5 by 9 cm) in size. The tree is native to south east Asia. In india, it is found in Orrissa, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Uses: It is a carminative medicine. Bark and roots are used in the treatment of impotency, neuralgia, cardiac diseases, dysepsia and dysentery.

Psidium guajava LinnFamily: Myrtaceae; Common Name: Guava, Amrud

Botany: A small tree. Native of Central America. In India chiely cultivated in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Bihar , Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh for its deciduous fruit rich in vitamin C.

Uses: Young leaves are steeped in hot water and drunk to relieve stomach ache and diarrhoea. Similarly it is used to treat dysentery and acute gasteroenteritis. The fruit contains glucosides offlavones avicularin and guaijaverin, as well as crataegolic, luteioic and argamolic acids.

5.3.7 Malaria

Brucia javanica Merr.Family: Simaroubaceae; Common name: Brucia


Cinchona calisaya Wedd.Family: Rubiaceae; Common Name: Quinine, Kunain

Quinine tree is native to Andes of South America. In India it is found in West Bengal, the Khasia hills, South India, Sikkim and Madhya Pradesh.

Uses: Quinine is one of the most important drug known and it is the only adequate cure for malaria. Quinine is obtained from thik and hard bark of this species. In addition to its use in the treatment of malaria, it is a valuable tonic and antiseptic.

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Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don.Family: Apocynaceae; Common Name: Periwinkle

Botany: Periwinkle is a perennial herb, growing upto 90 cm height. The stem is erect, with long branches and purple in colour. The leaf is simple, opposite and petiolate. The flowers are rose purple, white or white with rose purple spot in the centre. The plant is a native to Madagasker and from there it has spread to India, Indonesia, Indo-China, Philllippines, South Africa, Israel, USA and other parts of the world. In India, it is grown in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Gujarat.

Uses: The plant has been widely used as an abortifacient, purgative, anti-malarial, antidiabetic, diuretic, anti-dysentric and against skin diseases. Periwinkle contain about 100 alkaloids, distributed in all paarts of the plants, the important alkaloids being vincristin, vinblatin, serpentine, resperine.

Alstonia scholaris R. BR.Family: Apocynaceae; Common Name: Alstonia

Botany: The tree grows from 50-80 feet high, has a furrowed trunk, oblong stalked leaves up to 6 inches wide, dispersed in four to six whorls round the stem. The bark is almost odourless and very bitter.

Uses: The bark is used in homeopathy for ts tonic bitter and astrigent properties. Root decoction is used for hypertension, diabetes and malaria. It contains three alkaloids, ditamine, Echitamine or Ditaine, and Echitenines.

Phyllanthus niruri Linn.Family: Euphorbiaceae; Common Name: Phyllanthus plant, Child Pick-a-Back.

Botany: It is an annual herb, 30-60 cm tall, quite glabrous, stem often branched at the base, angular, obtuse, very acute. Flowers are yellow in colour. It is commonly found in central and souther India extending to Srilanka.

Uses: Plants are pounded into a paste, squeezed and the juice taken to treat malaria and hypertension. The rots, leaves, fruits, milky juice and whole plants are used as a medicine.

Physalis minima L.Family: Solanaceae; Common Name: Physalis

Uses: Plant decoction (root, leaf or fruit) taken as tea for treating hypertension, diabetes and malaria.

Melia azadirachta L.

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Family: Meliaceae; Common Name: Neem

Botany: A large tree 40 to 50 feet in height, common, wild or more often cultivated. Neem grows extensively in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.

Uses: Seeds are used in skin diseases, and in rheumatism. Bark is useful in malarial fever.Dry fruits are used as tonic and stomachic. Tender twigs are used as toothbrush.

5.3.8 Rheumatism

Aconitum napelllus Linn.Family: Ranunculaceae; Common Name: Aconite, Monkshood, Helmet flower, Mitha Zaher

Botany: The herb is perennial, growing to 1.5m height. The stems bear deeply dissected, toothed leaves and clusters of purple to blue flowers. It grows mainly on damp shady places and moist rich soils. It occurs widely in Himalayas from Garhwal to Assam.

Uses: Roots are analgesic, anodyne, antirheumatic, diaphoretic, diuretic, irritant and sedative. Externally, it is applied to unbroken skin in the treatment of rheumatism, painful bruises, neuralgia etc.

Withania somnifera Dunal.Family: Solanaceae; Common Name: Withania, Indian ginseng, Winter cherry, Ashwagandha

Botany: The wild plants are generally erect branching shrub up to 1 meter in height. The cultivated plants are morphologically distinct from wild plants. The plant is cultivated throughout drier parts of India.

Uses: It is popularly known as Indian Ginseng. It is a tonic, abortifacient, astringent, deobstruent, nervine, aphrodisiac and sedative. It gives vitality and vigour and helps in building greater endurance. It has been used in diseases such as rheumatism, leprosy and arthritis.

Zingiber officinale Rosc.Family: Zingiberaceae; Common Name: Ginger (Adarak)

Botany: This is a perennial herb; the root stock is horizontal, tuberous and aromatic. It is native to South East Asia. In India, it is now cultivated in Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.

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Uses: The rhizome is used as a stimulant, carminative and flavouring agent. It is given in dyspepsia and flatulent colic. It makes a valuable drug for disorders of the digestive system, rheumatism, piles, pulmonary and catarrhal diseases, dropsy, febrile diseases, neuralgia, etc.

Bacopa monnieri (Linn.) PannelFamily: Scrophulariaceae; Common Name: Brahmi


Gymnema sylvestre Schult.Family: Asclepiadaceae; Common Name: Australian cowplant, Small Indian Ipecacuaha

Botany: It is a laticiferous, evergreen woody climber or twining under-shrub. The leaves are opposite, usually elliptic or ovate. The flowers are small and yellow and borne in umbellate cymes. Based on leaf size, it can be classified as small-leaved type and broad and pubescent type. In the former, the leaves are oval, measuring 1.0-3.5 cm length, whereas in the latter, the leaves are dark green and pubescent measuring 3-6 cm length and 3.5-5.0 cm width. Gymnema is widely distributed in the tropics of Asia, Africa and Malaysia. In India, it is found growing wild in the forests of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Bihar. Due to heavy demand, the plant is becoming endangered and its commercial cultivation has recently gained importance in Tamil Nadu and other Southern states.

Uses: It is extensively used in almost al the Indian systems of medicine as a remedy for rheumatism, cough, dyspnoea, ulcers and eye pains.



i) Name the common plants that are used for treating tuberculosis.ii) What is the common name of Myrica nagi?iii) Write the medicinal properties of Emblica officinalis?iv) Name few plants that are used to treat malaria and rheumatism?…………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………………………………………………………………………………….

Pogostemon patchouli Pellet.Family: Labiatae; Common Name: Patchouli

Botany: Patchouli is an erect, branched, pubescent herb, about 0.5-1.0 m tall and aromatic when crushed. The leaves are 2-4 inches long and 1.5 inches broad. The margin is slightly lobed and

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the lobes have crenate-serrate teeth, the lobes are and apex of the leaf being obtuse. Hairs are in abundance on the under surface along the mid ribs and give the leaf pale appearance. Flowering takes place only in natural habitat, and it has been induced by short day conditions. In India, Malaysia and Philippines, flowering occurs in January to February whereas in Java, flowering never occurred. Patchouli is a shade-loving plant. It can be grown as an intercrop with coconut, arecanut, rubber, coffee, banana and other plantation crops.

Uses: The fresh leaves of patchouli have medicinal value and are used as a decoction with other drugs to treat nausea, diarrhoea, cold and headaches in the Chinese system of medicine. The dried leaves are used for scenting wardrobes, and known for their antirheumatic action.

5.3.9 Leprosy

Cassia fistula Linn.Family: Caesalpinaceae; Common Name: Golden shower, Amaltas

Botany: It is a medium-sized tree growing to 10-20 m tall with fast growth. The leaves are deciduous or semi-evergreen, 15-60 cm long, pinnate with 3-8 pairs of leaflets, each leaflet 7-21 cm long and 4-9 cm broad. The flowers are produced in pendulous racemes 20-40 cm long, each flower 4-7 cm diameter with five yellow petals of equal size and shape. The fruit is a legume is 30-60 cm long and 1.5-2.5 cm broad, with a pungent odour and containing several seeds. The seeds are poisonous. Cassia fistula is widely grown as an ornamental plant in tropical and subtropical areas. It is common throughout India ascending to 3,000 feet.

Uses: Roots cure fever. Pulp is purgative and used in all intestinal disorders. Bark is luxative and astringent. It is also used for tannin extraction, and in treating leprosy, jaundice, syphilis, and cardiac ailments.

Lawsonia innermis Linn.Family: Lythraceae; Common Name: Henna, Egyptian privet, Mehndi, Hina

Botany and Uses: See section 5.3.6.

Terminalia bellerica Roxb.Family: Combretaceae; Common Name: Belleric myrobalan, Bahera

Botany: A tall tree often buttresse, up to 20m tall. It is native to India and Malaya. It is commonly found at Baheda of Chhindwara district, Madhya Pradesh. It occurs on different parts of India except dry regions of western India.

Uses: Dried fruit is used in dry prolonged coughs, dropsy, diarrhoea and leprosy. The fruit powder is also used as a tonic and laxative. The plant is a good source of gum, resembling gum Arabic. Mixed with honey it is used in treating ophthalmic problems.

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Withania somnifera Dunal.Family: Solanaceae; Common Name: Withania, Indian ginseng, Winter cherry, Ashwagandha


5.3.10 Jaundice

Cassia fistula Linn.Family: Caesalpinaceae; Common Name: Golden shower, Amaltas


Phyllanthus niruri Linn.Family: Euphorbiaceae; Common Name: Bhumyamalaki

Botany: Phyllanthus niruri, is an important medicinal plant found growing as a weed in the rainy season in India. It is commonly known as bhumyamalaki, Keelaneli, Hazardana. It is an annual herb, 30-60 cm tall, quite glabrous, stem often branched at the base, angular. Leaves numerous, sub sessile, distichous often imbricating, elliptic, oblong, obtuse, stipules present, very acute. Flowers yellowish, very numerous, axillary. It is commonly found in central and southern India extending to Srilanka.

Uses: The roots, leaves, fruits, milky juice and whole plant is used as medicine. The fresh roots is believed to be an excellent remedy for Hepatitis B and the fresh roots or a decoction of the plant in a cup of milk or the dried leaves in powder are widely used in the treatment of jaundice. The roots contain kaempferol, rhamnopyranoside and eridictyol rhamnopyranoside.

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Terminalia bellerica Roxb. Cassia fistula Linn.

Phylanthus niruri Linn


5.3.11 Heart diseases

Areca catechu Linn. Family: Palmae; Common Name: Arecanut (Supari)

Botany: A slender stemmed palm. It is native to Malaya. The main arecanut rgowing areas are concentrated in the southern-western and the north-eastern region of the country. Among the main states that grow arecanut are Kerala, Karnataka, Assam, West Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

Uses: Unripe seeds are pounded and the juice applied to cuts and scabies. The seeds are chewed with leaves of Piper betle as a relaxant. In Chinese medicine, it is used to kill intestinal parasites,decrease heart rate and lower the blood pressure. It is known to contain methyl and ethyl esters of two reduced pyridine carboxylic acids as well as the methyl and ethyl esters of pyridine-3-carboxylic acid and piperidine-3-carboxylic acid. Nicotine is also present in trace quantities.

Allium sativum Linn. Family: Liliaceae; Common name: Garlic


Punica granatum Linn.Family: Lythraceae; Common Name: Pomegranate

Botany: An attractive shrub or small tree, 20-30 ft high, much branched, more or less spiny. An extremely long-lived species. The leaves are evergreen or deciduous, opposite or in whorls of 5 or 6, short-stemmed, oblong, lanceolate and leathery. Flowers are showy, present singly or in cluster. They are 3 cm wide and characterized by the thick, tubular, red calyx having 5-8 fleshy, pointed sepals forming a vase. Stamens numerous. Fruit is nearly round, tough and leathery skin or rind. The seeds represent about 52% of the weight of the whole fruit.

Uses: Used as an anthelmintic. Good for improving memory, brain and strength. It cures fever, burning, heart diseases and disease of throat. It is laxative and astringent.

Strychnos nux-vomica Linn.Family: Loganiaceae; Common Name: Nux-Vomica

Botany: The Strychnine tree also known as Nux vomica, is an evergreen tree. It is a medium-sized tree growing in open habitats. Its leaves are ovate and 3.5 by 2 inches (~5 by 9 cm) in size.

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Punica granatum Linn.


The tree is native to south east Asia. In india, it is found in Orrissa, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Uses: It is used in the treatment of impotency, neuralgia, cardiac diseases, dysepsia and dysentry. Leaves are used to treat wounds and ulcers and in paralytic problems. Treatment of dysentery and fever also uses bark and roots of the tree.

Terminalia arjuna Roxb.Family: Combretaceae; Common Name: Arjun, Kahuaa

Botany: A large deciduous tree, commonly found in Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Western Peninsula. It is also found throughout the Sub-Himalayan tracts.

Uses: The decoction of the bark is Used as tea in heart troubles. The bark gives strength to the heart. Good stomachic.

Coleus barbatus Brig.Family: Lamiaceae; Common Name: Coleus

Botany: Coleus is an aromatic perennial plant growing to a height of 50 cm with thick tubers and with very showy bluish to pale lavender coloured flowers borne on racemes. The entire plant is aromatic. The leaves and tubers have quite different odours. The roots are tuberous, up to 20 cm long and 0.5- 2.5 cm thick, conical, fusiform with an orange colour. The crop has been distributed all over the tropical and sub-tropical regions of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tropical East Africa, Brazil, Egypt, Arabia and Ethiopia. In India, it is found in the sub-tropical Himalayan regions from Kumaon to Nepal, Bihar and the Deccan Plateau of Southern India.

Uses: The tuberous roots are found to be rich source forskolin which has been developed as a drug for hypertensions, glaucoma, asthma, congestive heart failures and certain types of cancers.

5.3.12 Piles

Hollarhena antidysentrica Wall.Family: Apocynaceae; Common Name: Bitter oleander (Kurchi)

Botany: A small or medium sized deciduous tree, sometimes grows up to 10 meter tall, glabrous or pubescent, young shoot sometime tomentose. It grows wild in mountains. Tree is seen to be distributed all over the Indian subcontinent, ascending up to 1,200 meters from Chenab eastwards forests. It is found very common in the forests fringes of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Uses: According to Ayurveda, the bark is useful in treatment of piles, skin diseases and biliousness. The bark is used externally in case of skin troubles. The bark is mostly mixed with cow urine and applies it in affected parts.

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Jatropha curcas Linn.Family: Euphorbiaceae; Common Name: Physic nut, Purging nut, Safed arand, Jamalgota, Bagbherenda

Botany: This is a shrub or small tree, normally up to 5 m high. Jatropha curcas can grow in wastelands and grows almost anywhere, even on gravelly, sandy and saline soils. It can thrive on the poorest stony soil and grow in the crevices of rocks. It is native of tropical America, whereas it has been spread to other tropical and subtropical countries as well and is mainly grown in Asia and in Africa. In India, it is now cultivated along the Coromandel Coast and in Travancore.

Uses: The plant is also known as Biodiesel plant. It is very useful for medicinal purposes. The fresh latex is styptic. It is applied to bleeding wounds; it is locally applied to piles, scabies, eczema, ringworm, itch and decaying teeth.

Zingiber officinale Rosc.Family: Zingeberaceae; Common Name: Zinger

Botany: This is a perennial herb; the root stock is horizontal, tuberous and aromatic. It is native to South East Asia. In India, it is now cultivated in Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.

Uses: The rhizome is used as a stimulant, carminative and flavouring agent. It is given in dyspepsia and flatulent colic. It makes a valuable drug for disorders of the digestive system, rheumatism, piles, pulmonary and catarrhal diseases, dropsy, febrile diseases, neuralgia, etc.

Gloriosa superba L.Family: Liliaceae; Common Name: Glory Lily

Botany: It is a herbaceous, climbing perennial. The vines are tall, weak stemmed with tuberous roots that support themselves by means of cirrhosed tips. The leaves are ovate, lanceolate, acuminate, the tips spirally twisted to serve as tendril. The flowers are large, solitary or may form a lax-corymbose inflorescence, twisted and crisped with six recurved or reflexed petals, blossoming yellow but changing to yellow-red and deep scarlet. It is found throughout tropical India, from the North-West Himalayas to Assam and the Deccan peninsula, extending up to an

26

Jatropha curcas Linn. Hollarhena antidysentrica Wall


elevation of 2120 m. It is also found growing in Madagaskar, Sri-Lanka, Indo-China and on the adjacent islands.

Uses: the plant has been used in the Indian system of medicine since time immemorial. Its tubers are reported to have been used as a tonic, antiperiodic, antihelmintic and also against snakebites and scorpion stings. It is considered useful in colic, chronic ulcer, piles and gonorrhoea.

5.3.13 Leucoderma

Pterocarpus marsupium Roxb.Family: Papilionaceae; Common Name: Indian Kino tree (Bijasal, Bija)

Botany: A moderate-size to large deciduous tree, up to 30 meter high and a girth of 2.5 meter with a straight clean bole. It is found commonly in hilly regions throughout the Deccan Peninsula, and extending to Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa.

Uses: The heartwood is good for elephantiasis, leucoderma, diarrhoea, dysentery, rectalgia, cough and greyness of hair.

5.3.14 Blood purifier

Amaranthus virdis Linn.Family:Amaranthaceae; Common Name: Green Amaranth

Botany: It is a herb about 40 cm tall. Leaves alternate. Flowers densely clustered in elongate spikes. Spikes green, perianth segments 3.

Uses: It is said to be good blood purifier. Used in piles. Taken as digesting agent.

Launaea acaulisFamily:Asteraceae; Common Name: Musakani

Uses: It is nutritive, diuretic, stomachic and blood purifier. It is used as antidote for poisoning. Roots relieve jaundice and skin disorders. Leaves and roots are given in leprosy and leucorrhoea.

Zizyphus jujuba Lamk.Family: Rhamnaceae; Common Name: Ber

Botany: Zizyhpus jujuba is a small deciduous tree or shrub reaching a height of 5-10 m, usually with thorny branches. The leaves are shiny green, ovate-acute, 2-7 cm long and 1-3 cm broad, with three conspicuous veins at the base, and a finely toothed margin. The flowers are small, 5 mm diameter, with five inconspicuous yellowish-green petals. The fruit is an edible oval drupe. It is naturally distributed to southern Asia, Syria, northern India, and southern and central China.

Uses: Good in diarrhea and fever. It is a good blood purifier.

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Centella asiatica (L.) Urban.Family: Umbellifereae; Common Name: Indian Pennywort, Brahmi


Ocimum sanctum Linn.Family: Labiateae; Common Name: Holy basil,Tulsi




i) Match the followingT. bellerica LamiaceaeColeus barbata Cassia fistulaBhumyamalaki Centella asiaticaIndian kino Pterocarpus marsupiumGolden shower BaheraIndian pennywort Phyllanthus niruri

ii) Write the name of three plants used for treating each of the following diseasea) Leprosy b) Heart disease c) Piles d) Blood purifier………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

5.4 LET US SUM UP

Plants and plant-based medicaments are the basis of many of the modern pharmaceuticals we used today for our various ailments. At one time, nearly all medicines were derived from biological resources. Even today they remain vital and as much as 67%-70% of modern medicines are derived from natural products.

There are a number of plants that are used for the treatment of expulsion of worms such as vetiver, garlic, arecanut, neem, palas etc.

Phyllanthus niruri of the family euphorbiaceae, is an important medicinal plant used for the treatment of bronchitis, leprosy, anaemia, urinary discharge, chronic dysentery etc.

28


Isabgol, Amaranthus, Centella, Aloe etc. have been known to treat urino genital diseases.

Brahmi, botanically known as Bacopa monnieri, is known to treat asthma, sore throat, dermatosis, anaemia, dropsy, arthritis, dyspepsia, cough, fever, rheumatism.

Plantago is a large genus of herbs and subshrubs of the family Plantaginaceae. The husk of the plant is beneficial in chronic dysenteries of amoebic and bacillary origin.

Strychnos nux-vomica is used in the treatment of impotency, neuralgia, cardiac diseases, dysepsia and dysentry.

5.5 CHECK YOUR PROGRESS: THE KEY

1. i) 1. (c) Poaceae 2. (a) Liliaceae 3. (b) Male Fern 4. (b) North Africa ii) Carica papaya (Caricaeae) has antihelmitic property.

2. i) Bacopa monnieri, Ocimum sanctum, Adhatoda vasica, Allium sativum, Costus speciosus, Eucalyptus globules, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, Mimosa pudica, Santalum album etc. ii) Jatropha curcas, Euphorbiaceae.iii) Adhatoda vasica - Vasaka Ocimum sanctum - Labiateae Bacopa monieri - Brahmi Mimosa pudica - Touch me not

Eucalyptus - Myrtaceae

3. i) Asparagus racemosus, Cedrus deodara, Pinus contorta, Rubus occidentalis. ii) Bay Berry. iii) The dried fruit of Emblica nagi is given in diarrhoea, dysentery, and haemorrhage. iv) Malaria- Brucia javanica, Cinchona calisaya,Catharanthus roseus, Alstonia scholaris,

Phyllanthus niruri, Physalis minima, Melia azadirachta. Rheumatism- Aconitum napellus, Withania somnifera, Zinziber officinale, Bacopa

monnieri, Gymnema sylvestre, Pogostemon patchouli.

4. i) T. bellerica - Bahera Golden shower - Cassia fistula Bhumyamalaki - Phyllanthus niruri Coleus barbata - Lamiaceae Indian kino - Pterocarpus marsupium Indian pennywort - Centella asiatica ii) Leprosy- Cassia fistula, Lawsonia innermis, Terminalia bellerica Heart disease- Areca catechu, Allium sativum, Punica granatum

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Piles- Hollarhena antidysentrica, Jatropha curcas, Gloriosa superba. Blood purifier- Amaranthus viridis, Launaea acaulis, Zizypus jujuba.

5.6 ASSIGNMENT OR ACTIVITIES

Visit the nearby nursery and collect information about different medicinal plants used for treating various diseases.

Meet an Ayurvedic/Homeopathic physician and study about preparation of drugs from various medicinal plants.

5.7 REFRENCES

Warrier P. K. 2002. Indian medicinal plants. Vol. 1-5, Orient Longman, Hyderabad.

Nair C. K. N. 1998. Medicinal plants of India. Nag Publishers, New Delhi.

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