Medicinal plant details
Chrysopogon nigritanus(Benth.) Veldkamp
(Usheera)
| Common name | Usheera |
| Habit | Herb |
| Habitat | Fringes of inundated floodplains and in shallow water |
| Parts used | Root |
Synonyms
| Sr. No. | Synonyms |
|---|---|
| 1 | Andropogon nigritanus Benth. |
| 2 | Andropogon squarrosus var. nigritanus (Benth.) Hack. |
| 3 | Andropogon zizanioides var. nigritanus (Benth.) A.Chev. |
| 4 | Chrysopogon zizanioides var. nigritana (Benth.) Roberty |
| 5 | Jardinea kibambeleensis Vanderyst |
| 6 | Mandelorna insignis Steud. |
| 7 | Vetiveria nigritana (Benth.) Stapf |
| 8 | Vetiveria zizanioides var. nigritana (Benth.) A.Camus |
| 9 | Rhaphis zizanioides var. nigritanus (Benth.) Roberty |
Taxonomical information
| Kingdom | Viridiplantae |
| Phylum | Streptophyta |
| Class | Magnoliopsida |
| Order | Poales |
| Family | Poaceae |
| Genus | Chrysopogon |
| Species | Chrysopogon nigritanus (Benth.) Veldkamp |
Vernacular names
| Sanskrit | |
| English | Black vetiver grass |
| Hindi | |
| Kannada | |
| Marathi | |
| Malayalam | |
| Bengali | |
| Tamil | |
| Telugu | |
| Urdu |
Morphology
It is a large erect perennial herb in cespitose clumps, entirely glabrous reaching 3m in height. The leaves are rough, linear, tip-terminated, often folded, with scabrous margins. The sheath is compressed, carinated, the ligule reduced to a line of hairs. The inflorescence is a large pyramidal panicle compose of numerous purple racemes arranged in whorls. The spiklets are paired, one sessile, hermaphrodite, the other pedicellate and only male.
Distribution
It is distributed in India, Pakistan, Malaysia an in many African countries
Medicinal uses
Mouth ulcers, boils, burns, epilepsy, snake bites, fever, headaches and infections
References
| 1 | Strohbach, B. J., and Walters, W. (2015). An overview of grass species used for thatching in the Zambezi, Kavango east and Kavango west regions, Namibia. Dinteria, 35, 13-42. |