Chandigarh Forests
Department of Forest & Wildlife
UT Administration
Chandigarh
Department of Forest & Wildlife
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Division
|
Angiosperms |
|
Class
|
Dicotyledons |
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Subclass |
Gamopetalae |
|
Series |
Hypogynae |
|
Order |
Gentianales |
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Family
|
Asclepiadaceae |
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Genus
|
Callotropis |
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Species
|
procera |
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Etymology: |
Derived from word “kalos”, beautiful and and “tropis”, keel; referring to the corona lobes in the form of a keel. |
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Botanical name:
|
Calotropis procera (Aiton) Dryander |
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Local/Trade Names: |
Gigantic swallow wort, Aak,Madar |
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Description: |
Erect, much branched shrubs, with woody base ; bark soft, spongy ; stem;
serete, cottony-pubescent. Leaves opposite, subsessile, elliptic, obovate to oblong, 10-20×5-13 cm, acute or adrupty acuminate , base cordate or auricled or amplexicaule, cottony pubescent on both surfaces. Flower purplish, on 6- 12 cm long, terete, pubescent peduncles, arranged in subumbellate cymes, srising in between leaf pairs. |
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Distribution:
|
Almost throughout India; Pakistan, W. Aisa, tropical Africa. |
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Where to see it: |
Wild in the garden. |
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Uses: |
The dried whole plant is good tonic, expectorant, depurative and anthelmintic. The dried root bark is a substitute for ipecacuanha. The root bark is febrifuge, anthelmintic, depurative, expectorant and laxative, and is useful in cutaneous diseases, intestinal worms, cough, ascites and anasarca. The powdered root promotes gastric secretions and is useful in asthma, bronchitis and dyspepsia. The leaves are useful in the treatment of paralysis, arthralgia, swellings and intermittent fevers. The flowers are bitter, digestive, astringent, stomachic, anthelmintic and tonic. They are useful in asthma, catarrh, anorexia, inflammations and tumours. In large doses it is purgative and emetic. |
