MPdb: Melghat Plant Data Bank
MS090 : Pupalia lappacea (L.) Juss. |
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| Melghat's Flora's Serial No. : | 441 |
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| Plant Location in Melghat : | - | |||||||||||||
| Plant Category : | Shrubs | |||||||||||||
| Plant's Current Status : | - | |||||||||||||
| Plant Family : | Amaranthaceae | |||||||||||||
| Plant Common Name : | Forest Burr, Creeping Cock's Comb • Hindi: Nagadaminee, Undho bhurat, Chirchitta • Tamil: adai-otti, perunkotiveli, napikai, valiyakkotiveli • Malayalam: pu-pal-valli, wellia-codiveli • Telugu: erra utthareni, thella utthareni, yerri chithramoolam • Kannada: antupurale gida, naagadamani • Konkani: Sitya kurdi | |||||||||||||
| Synonym : | Achyranthes atropurpurea Lam. Achyranthes lappacea L. Achyranthes patula L. f. Desmochaeta atropurpurea (Lam.) DC. Desmochaeta flavescens DC. Pupalia atropurpurea (Lam.) Moq. |
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| Description : | Perennial herb, erect and c. 0.6-0.9 m tall, or bushy or sprawling, or sub-scandent and scrambling to c. 2 m, stem generally much-branched and swollen at the nodes, 4-angled to almost terete, thinly pilose to densely tomentose. Leaves variable in shape and size, from narrowly ovate-elliptic to oblong or orbicular, 2-12 x 1-6 cm, acuminate to apiculate at the summit (often retuse in round-leaved forms), shortly or more longly cuneate at the base, narrowed to a petiole 2-25 mm long; indumentum of lamina varying from subsericeous or tomentose to subglabrous with a few hairs running vertically along the lower surface of the primary venation, commonly moderately pilose with the hairs along the nerves divergent. Spikes terminal on the stem and branches, at first ± dense, elongating to as much as 0.5 m in fruit with the lower flowers becoming increasingly remote, axis subglabrous to tomentose, peduncle c. 1-10 cm; bracts lanceolate, 1.5-2.5 mm, persistent, ± deflexed after the fall of the fruit, subglabrous or pilose, sharply mucronate with the percurrent midrib; hermaphrodite flowers mostly in ± sessile clusters of 3, upper often solitary; bracteoles of hermaphrodite flowers broadly cordate-ovate, 2.75-5 mm, conspicuous, sharply mucronate with the percurrent midrib. Tepals oblong, 3.5-6 mm, glabrous to ± pilose dorsally, 3-nerved, the lateral nerves of the 2 outer tepals strong throughout, joining the shortly excurrent midrib just below the apex. Spines of modified flowers glabrous except sometimes near the base, yellowish to purple, 3-4 mm; 3-flowered clusters falling together to form a “burr” up to c. 2.5 cm in diameter. Filaments 2-3 mm. Style slender, 1.25 2 mm. Capsule ovoid, 2-2.5 mm. Seed oblong-ovoid with a prominent radicle, 2 mm long, dark brown, shining, testa at first faintly reticulate but finally smooth or punctulate. | |||||||||||||
| Curated Medicinal Use / Activity : | The leaves are antitussive, diuretic and febrifuge. They are taken in various ways in the treatment of coughs - they are put into soups; purple coloured leaves are pounded with palm-oil and salt; or they are made into a simple tisane. They are also used in various ways to treat dysenteriform Diarrhea and oedema. The leaves are used in an enema to treat constipation. Applied externally, the leaves are mixed with palm-oil or butter for the treatment of boils. The leaves are also used in topical applications to treat cuts. A decoction is applied in frictions to treat oedema of the legs. Used to treat jaundice, abdominal colics, cephalgias, Diarrheas, paralysis, erectile dysfunction, vomiting and malaria. | |||||||||||||
| Plant's Phytochemicals : | 1-docosanol stearic acid stigmasterol sitosterol N-benzoyl-L-Phenyl alaninol acetate setosterol-3-O-D-glucopyranoside stigmasterol-3-O-D-glucopyranoside 20- hydroxyl ecdysone |
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| Reference : | ~ Dhore MA and Joshi PA; "Flora of Melghat Tiger Reserve"; Directorate, Project Tiger, Melghat (1988); PMID : |
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