Indian Medicinal Plants/Natural Order Amarantaceæ

Vern. : — Debkoti, sufaid múrgha, sarwari siráli, ghogiya (H.) ; Sirgit arak (Santal) ; Salgâra, chilchil, sil, sarpankha(Pb.) ; Swet murgaâ (B.) ; Sarwali, ucha-kukur (Sind.) ; Lâpadi (Guz.) ; Kudhu, kurdu (Bomb.) ; Kúrdú kurada (Mar.) ; Gurugu, panche chettu (Tel.). (Several of these vernacular names imply white coxcomb).

Habitat : — Central and Northern India.

A glabrous erect annual herb, l-3ft, stout slender, simple or branched. Leaves l-0in., narrow, linear or lanceolate. Spikes solitary, few or many, 1-8 by ¾-lin.; peduncles slender. Flowers ⅓-½in., white, glistening ; bracts much shorter than the acute sepals ; style filiform. The top of the spike sometimes branches out in a coxcomb form.

Uses: — The seeds are officinal, being an efficacious remedy in diarrhœa. The Revd. A. Campbell says the Santals extract a medicinal oil from them. The amount of oil extracted by ether amounts to only about 7 per cent. The author of the Muffaridat-i-Násiri states that 180 grains of the seeds with an equal quantity of sugar-candy taken daily in a cup of milk is a most powerful aphrodisiac. (Dymock ) ​

Sans. : — Mayura Sikha.

Vern. : — Kokan, pîla-murghka, lál-murghka (H.) ; Mawal, taji khoros, bostan afraz, kanju, dhurá-drâ (Pb.) ; Lál-murga, huldi-murga (B.) ; Erra-kodi-utta-tota-kuru ; Kodi-juttu-totakura (Tel.).

Habitat: — Throughout India, cultivated, and as an escape.

An annual erect glabrous herb. Stem tall, branching. Leaves ovate lanceolate, sometimes 9in. long and 3in. broad, sometimes varying from linea to ovate, acute or acuminate ; spikes cylindric, very stout. Flowers densely imbricate 1/6-¼in. Style filiform, lengthening after fruiting. Utricle acute ; dehiscence circumciss.

Uses : — The flowers are considered astringent, they are used in cases of diarrhœa, and in excessive menstrual discharges (Stewart.) The seeds are demulcent and useful in painful micturition, cough and dysentery. (U. C. Dutt.)

The seeds of C. cristafca, Linn, afford a greenish-brown, drying oil, with an iodine value of 126.3. The insoluable fatty acids melt between 27° and 29°.

Regarding the genus Amarantus, Sir George Watt, in his Comml. Prod, of India, p. 62, writes —

{{smaller|" There may be said to be two or perhaps three distinct groups of amaranths that are of economic value to the people of India. These are the species cultivated in gardens and mainly, if not exclusively, as Pot-herbs : second, the wild species that are eaten as pot-herbs or Medicines : and third, the forms cultivated in fields and exclusively so as edible Grains. The last mentioned are by far, the most valuable and hence may be taken up in greater detail than the others. But in passing it may be observed that the Indian species of this genus seem to be sadly wanting careful study and revision."""

Sans. : — Tanduliya. 1 ​ Vern, : — Kanta nutia (Beng.) ; Kante mat (Dec.) ; Mulluk-kirai (Tam.) ; Mah : Kánte bháji, kánte math Chanlai kánte-dár (H.) ; Mullan-chira (Malay); Mullu-tota-kura ; Nalla doggali ; Erra mulu goranta (Tel.).

Habitat: — Throughout India, in waste places, fields and gardens.

An annual erect glabrous herb. Stem l-2ft., hard, terete, leaf-axils with 5 straight spines ⅔in. and under (J. D. Hooker). " Stem," writes Trimen (Ceylon), " polished, much-branched, cylindrical with a pair of very sharp divaricate opposite spines in leaf axils at the base of the bud or branch." This is what I find among the Konkan plants (K. R. Kirtikar). Leaves l½-2¼ in., ovate-lanceolate, tapering to base, obtuse, spinous apiculate ; entire undulate, glabrous above, slightly scurfy beneath, lateral veins numerous, prominent beneath, petiole ½-2in. Flowers very numerous, sessile, pale green, clusters dense, both axillary and in terminal interrupted spikes, male fewer than female. Bracts linear, bristle-pointed. Perianth leaves 5, rather longer than bracts, ovate, bristle pointed. Stamens 5, spreading ; ovary pointed, pubescent. Styles 2, long, spreading, hairy (Trimen). Utricle rugose, nearly equalling the sepals. Flowers 1/24in. long, sepals of male acuminate, of female obtuse apiculate. Stigmas 2. Seeds 1/30in. diam., blacky shining, border obtuse, not thickened. The plant varies from green to red and purple. (J. D. Hooker.)

Uses: — " Considered light, cooling and a promoter of the alvine and urinary discharges. Root said to be, according to Bhâvaprakash, useful in menorrhagia." (Dutt's, p. 221.) "Roots made into poultice are applied to buboes and abscesses for hastening suppuration." (Asst.-Surg. A. C. Mukerji.) The whole plant is used as an antidote for snake-poison, and the root as a specific for colic. It is also considered a lactagogue, and, boiled with pulses, is given to cows (J. P., p. 184). Assistant-Surgeon Ainrita Lai Deb, of Howrah, recorded the root as a specific in gonorrhœa ; also advocated its use in eczema (I. M. G., Nov. 1881). ​

Syn. : — A. frumentaceus, Ham. Roxb. 663. A. Anacardana, Ham. A. farinaceus, Roxb.

Vern. :— Chuko, Bathu (B.) ; Rajagaro (Guz.); Rájgira (Dec); Táj-e-khurus ; Bustan afroz (Persian) ; Chúa mársa, ganhar. (EL); Kahola-bháji (Bomb)

Habitat : — Cultivated throughout India and up to 9,000 ft, in the Himalayas.

A tall robust annual. Stem 4-5ft., striate, sometimes thicker than the thumb, glabrous or puberulous. Leaves 2-6 by l-3in., elliptic or ovate-lanceolate, acute or finely acuminate, base cuneate, petiole as long as the leaf. Spikes sub-erect, red, green or yellow, in dense thyrses squarrose from the long curved bracts, centre one longest. Bracts acicular, recurved, very much longer than the oblong-lanceolate acuminate sepals. Sepals 5. Stamens 5. Utricle circumciss, top 2-3 fid. Seeds 1/20in. diam., yellowish white or pitchy black with a narrow thin border.

Uses :— Used for purifying the blood and in piles, and as a diuretic in strangury. (Baden-Powell.) Used in scrofula and as a local application for scrofulous sores ; administered in the form of a liquid. (Watt.)

Sir George Watt, in his Comml. Prod. Ind. (pp. 63-64), writes —

It is one of the most important sources of Food with the hill tribes of India, and there are both golden-yellow and bright purple conditions. The former is more frequent and seems therefore to be preferred ; most fields, however, contain a few red plants among the yellow. It is an exceedingly ornamental crop : the hillsides on account of the fields of this plant, become in autumn literally golden-yellow and purple."

" The grain has been analysed by Church (Food-Grains of Ind., 107-9) and the average of three samples gave the nutrient ratio at 1 : 5-3 and the nutrient value 90. It has been estimated that one plant will produce 100,000 grains. Speaking of another sample, which Church attributed to A. gangeticus, but which may possibly have been one of them any forms of the present species, he remarks : " The analysis shows that we have in these seeds a food in which the proportions, not merely of albuminoids of total starch plus the starch-equivalent of the oil, but also of the oil itself, are very nearly those of an ideal or standard ratio." Visitors to the hills of India are inclined to smile at people who live very largely upon these minute grains, but they might with advantage to themselves use this extremely wholesome article of diet. ​

Vern. : — Báns-patá-natiya (B.) ; Máti chulai (Bomb.) ; Lálsâg, chulâi-sâg, labra (Merwara).

Habitat :— Cultivated throughout India.

An erect glabrous annual herb, stout handsome species, much cultivated, 2-3ft., leafy green, pink, rufuse liver-coloured or bright-red. Leaves 2-5in., very variable from linear-lanceolate, to rounded-oval and 3in., diam. or deltoid ovate ; tip rounded or long and slender, but always obtuse and often notched, base elongate cuneate. Petiole equalling the blade. Clusters squarrose, crowded in the lower axils and forming a terminal spike ; bracts 1/6in. long. Bracts awned subulate, equalling or exceeding the 3 lanceolate sepals and utricle. Stamens 3. Utricle circumciss Seeds lenticular, pitch-black, 1/20in. diam., border acute.

Use : — Used as an emollient poultice.

Syn. : — Achyranthes incana, Roxb. 225.

Habitat :-~ From the Oudh Terai to the Punjab, Sindh, and Central India. The Deccan, from the Concan southward.

A semi-shrubby plant. Stem 2-3ft, branched, cylindric, covered with a thick coat of very dense stellate wool which is easily detached. Leaves nearly sessile alternate, l-l½in., linear-oblong or oblong-spathulate, rounded, slightly emarginate or acute, with dense woolly coat like the stem. Flowers white, sessile, uni-sexual, arranged in naked terminal panicles. Bracts large, broadly ovate, acute, papery, veinless. Perianth leaves 5, rather unequal, lanceolate or oval, papery, densely covered outside with long woolly hair, stigmas 2, long. Seed lenticular, black polished (Trimen) ; style elongate ; flowers 1/10 in. (J. D. Hooker.) Male flowers are said to be few.

Syn. : — Achyranthes lanata, Linn. Roxb. 227.

Sans. : — Astmabayda.

Vern. .— Chaya (B.); Bhui (Raj.); Bui, jari (Sind) ; Búi-kallam(Pb); Kul-ke-jar, khul (Duk.) ; Azmei, spirke, sassái ​ (Trans-Indus); Kapur-madhura (Mar.); Sirrú-púláy vayr (Tam.); Pindie-conda (Tel.).

Habitat : — Plains of Bengal, from Dacca and Behar westward to the Indus. The Concan, Central India and through-out the Deccan.

A very common perennial weed, often woody at base. Stems erector prostrate, numerous, long, with slender branches, cylindric, more or less cottony hairy. Leaves alternate, numerous, ¾-1¼in. on main stem, much smaller, ¼-⅜in., on branches, oval or spathulate-oval, tapering at base, rounded or sub-acute at apex, entire, finely hairy-pubescent above, more or less white with cottony hair beneath. Petiole short, obscure. Flowers very small, sessile, often bisexual, greenish white, in very small, dense, sessile axillary heads or spikes. Bracts shorter than sepals, ovate, obtuse, with membranous margins woolly with long white hairs outside. Stigmas 2, very short.

Uses : — The flowering tops of the above two species are officinal, and the roots are used in the treatment of headache, and by the natives of the Malabar Coast are regarded as demulcent.

Sans. : — Apámárga, ágháta, apangaka.

Vern. :— -Apáng (Beng. and Ass.) ; Látjirá, chirchira, chirchitta (H.) ; Agháda (Bom. and Mah.) ; Uttaréni. antisha, apa márgamu (Tel.); Náyurivi (Tam.) ; Kutri, phut kanda (Gujrat) ; Kataláti (Mal.); Utráni-gida uttaráne (Kan.) ; Aghedo (Guj.) ; Margia (Sind.)

Eng. :— The Prickly Chaff-flower.

Habitat :— A shrub found all over India, ascending to 3,000 ft.

Annual herbs. 'Stems l-2ft., erect, stiff, with long spreading branches thickened above nodes, striate, pubescent. Leaves few, usually thick, leathery, broadly ovate or orbicular, 3-5 by 2-3in., tapering to base, usually rounded, on short petioles, sometimes acute, or apex entire, but often' very undulate, very finely and ​ softly pubescent both sides. Flowers in robust woolly pubescent spikes upto 18in. long, numerous, stiffly reflexed against rachis, densely crowded. Bracts short, reflexed, ovate, membranous, with a long very acute point ; bractlets very sharply spinescent (very hard in fruit), with a broad membranous wing at base. Perianth-leaves about ⅛in., oblong-oval, acute, glabrous and shining, with a narrow white membranous margin. Stamens 5, staminodes, large, truncate, fimbriate. Fruit very small, oblong cylindrical, truncate, nearly smooth, brown, enclosed in a hard perianth.

A very common weed throughout the Tropics in India, Ceylon, in waste land and in grass. Trimen observes that the perianth containing the fruit disarticulates from the rachis above the bract carrying away with it the spinescent bractlets by which it becomes attached to other objects and is transported. Flowers greenish white.

Uses : — It possesses valuable medicinal properties as a pungent and laxative, and is considered useful in dropsy, piles, boils, eruptions of the skin, etc. The seeds and leaves are considered emetic, and are useful in hydrophobia and snake-bites. (T. N. Mukerji's Amsterdam Catalogue.) The dried plant is given to children for colic and also as an astringent in gonorrhœa. (Stewart's Punjab Plants.) Major Madden says that the flowering spikes are regarded as a protective against scorpions, the insects being paralysed through the presence of a twig. The ash yields a large quantity of potash, rendering it useful in the arts as well as in medicine. Mixed with orpiment this ash is used externally in the treatment of ulcers, and of warts on the penis and other parts of the body. (U. C. Dutt.) Sesamum oil and the ash (apamarga taila) are used in the treatment of disease of the ear, being poured into the meatus. Dr. Bidie says : " Various English practitioners agree as to its marked diuretic properties in the form of a decoction." Dr. Cornish reports favourably, having found it efficacious in the treatment of dropsy. Dr. Shortt reports on its use as an external applicant in the treatment of the bites of insects ; and Dr. Turner *calls attention to it as a remedy ​ in snake-bite. (Pharm. Indica.) Used in cases of abscess ; its ashes are used in cases of asthma and cough. (Ibbetson's Gujrat). In Sind, it is used by the native foresters as an application to wounds caused by Babool thorns (Murray, p. 101). To an infusion of the root is ascribed a mild astringent virtue (Honigberger, Vol, I1. 3 p. 222). The flowering spike made into pills with a little sugar is a popular preventive medicine in Behar for persons bitten by rabid dogs. (Balfour.) As an ash, however, there seems no reason to think it possesses any virtues other than those of the simple alkali of our shops.

" The drug may be useful in all conditions arising from nervousness. Thus it is used as a talisman in hysteria, and 1 know personally of cases that were benefited by it. How it acts in such a way, I cannot say ; it may be possible that the good effects are obtained by ionisation only, if anything of such nature there is in the drug. But that it is undoubtedly useful in hysteria and such nervous disorders, there is no gainsaying. In hysteria what we find is that there is extreme nervous sensibility attended with muscular contraction, either violent or mild ; it is preceded generally by irregular heart or palpitation" (Dr. Lai Mohan Ghoshal, in ' Food and Drugs ' for Oct. 1912 pp. 84-85.)

Syn. : — Achyranthes triandra, Roxb. 227.

Vern. : — Moku-nú-wanna (Singh.); Ghardughi (Rohilkhand); kánchari (Bomb.).

Habitat : — Throughout hotter India in damp places, ascending the Himalaya to 4,000 ft.

A prostrate or ascending, nearly glabrous, herb, branching from base, 6-18in. Leaves opposite, nearly sessile, narrowly oblong or ovate, l-3in., obtuse. Flowers minute, white, crowded in shining, very short head-like sessile axillary spikes. Perianth scarious 5-parted ; segments acute. Stamens 5, the alternate ones sometimes without anthers ; filaments united at base ; anthers 1-celled. Ovary ovoid, notched at top ; style very short, stigma capitate. Fruit a dry, flattened utricle, enclosed by the perianth and containing a single seed. ​Use : — It is largely eaten in Ceylon as a vegetable, especially by mothers to increase the flow of milk ; also used as a wash for the eyes. (Watt.)

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