Medicinal plant details
Plumbago zeylanicaLinn.
(Chitraka)
| Common name | Chitraka |
| Habit | Shrub |
| Habitat | Scrub jungles, deciduous forests, also in the plains |
| Parts used | Root |
Synonyms
| Sr. No. | Synonyms |
|---|---|
| 1 | Molubda scandens Raf. |
| 2 | Plumbago scandens L. |
| 3 | Plumbagidium scandens Spach |
| 4 | Findlaya alba Bowdich |
| 5 | Plumbago zeylanica var. zeylanica |
| 6 | Thela alba Lour. |
| 7 | Plumbago viscosa Blanco |
Taxonomical information
| Kingdom | Viridiplantae |
| Phylum | Streptophyta |
| Class | Magnoliopsida |
| Order | Caryophyllales |
| Family | Plumbaginaceae |
| Genus | Plumbago |
| Species | Plumbago zeylanica Linn. |
Vernacular names
| Sanskrit | Agni, Vahini |
| English | Lead wort, Ceylon lead wort |
| Hindi | Chira, Chitra |
| Kannada | Chitrakmula, Bilichitramula |
| Marathi | Vellakeduveli |
| Malayalam | Vellakeduveli, Thumpokkoduveli |
| Bengali | Chita |
| Tamil | Kodiveli, Chitramoolam |
| Telugu | |
| Urdu | Cheetah |
Morphology
Moderate sized shrub, stem striate, woody, glabrous. Leaves are simple, alternate, size 8 x 3 cm, ovate or oblong, narrow petiole, amplexicaul at base and often auriculate. Bark is thin and brown in colour. Roots which are more long with 30 cm in length, 6 mm in diameter, brackish red in colour. Flowers are white, 1-1.5 cm across with a long narrow tube. Calyx covered with sticky glands. Fruit is 4-5 mm long, glabrous with an elongated capsule. Seeds are dark purplish, oblong and 4 mm long
Distribution
Distributed in India and Sri Lanka. Within India, Assam, Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh
Medicinal uses
Diarrhea, inflammation, fever, nervous palsy, hemorrhoids, skin diseases, irritable bowel disease, epilepsy, ammenorrhoea and anemia
References
| 1 | Vishnukanta, V., and Rana, A. C. (2011). Plumbago zeylanica: a phytopharmacological review. International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research. 2011; 2, 247 |
| 2 | Mandavkar, Y. D., and Jalalpure, S. S. (2011). A comprehensive review on Plumbago zeylanica Linn. African Journal of pharmacy and pharmacology, 5, 2738-2747. |