07/12/2024
Prickly Chaff-flower-- An important medicinal plant !!
BOTANICAL NAME: Achyranthes aspera var. perphyristachya Hook F.
FAMILY: Amaranthaceae
ENGLISH NAME: Prickly Chaff-flower, devil's horsewhip.
HINDI NAME: Chirchita, Latjira, Onga.
SANSKRIT NAME: अपामार्ग (apamarga)
GENERAL DESCRIPTION: It grows as wasteland herb every where. Since time immemorial, it is in use as folk medicine. It holds a reputed position as medicinal herb in different systems of medicine in India.
It is distributed throughout the tropical world. It can be found in many places growing as an introduced species and a common w**d. It is an invasive species in some areas, including many Pacific Islands environments.
BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION:
>>plant: An erect or subscandent annual herb upto 1m high.
>>stem: Angular, ribbed, thickened above the node, more or less densely hairy.
>>leaves: Opposite, elliptic or obovate, form an acute or obtuse base, acuminate or rounded at apex.
>>flower: Deflexed, congested near the apex of the axis, perfect, bracts and bracteoles subequal.
>> fruit: An utricle, oblong-cylindric, truncate at apex, rounded at base.
>>seeds: Subcylinderic, truncate at apex, reddish brown.
>>flowering and fruiting: Sept. - Dec.
USEFUL PART: All parts
TRADITIONAL MEDICINAL USES: According to Ayurveda, it is bitter, pungent, heating, laxative, stomachic, carminative and useful in treatment of vomiting, bronchitis, heart disease, piles, itching abdominal pains, ascites, dyspepsia, dysentery, blood diseases etc. In Uttar Pradesh the plant is used for a great many medicinal purposes, especially in obstetrics and gynecology, including abortion, induction of labor, and cessation of postpartum bleeding.The Maasai people of Kenya use the plant medicinally to ease the symptoms of malaria.
AYURVEDIC PREPARATION:
>>Apamarga Taila, Agnimukha etc.
>>According to Ayurveda, it is bitter, pungent, heating, a laxative, a stomachic, a carminative and useful for the treatment of vomiting, bronch
