Common name: Porcupine flower, Barleria • Hindi: वज्रदंती Vajradanti • Tamil: குந்தன் Kundan •Kannada: Mullu goranti • Malayalam: Kuttivetila • Gujarati:
Pilikantashelio
Botanical name: Barleria prionitis
Family: Acanthaceae (Acanthus family)
Geographical distribution
The plant occurs commonly in tropical
India. It is grown as hedge plant.
Introduction: Porcupine flower is an erect, prickly shrub,
usually single-stemmed, growing to about 1.5 m tall. The stems and branches are
stiff and smooth and light brown to light grey in colour. The leaves are up to
100 mm long and 40 mm wide, and oval-shaped though narrow at both ends
(ellipsoid) The base of the leaves is protected by three to five sharp, pale
coloured spines, 10-20 mm long. The yellow-orange tubular flowers are found
bunched tightly together at the top of the plant, but they also occur singly at
the base of leaves. The flowers are 40 mm long and tubular, with several long
protruding stamens. The seed capsule is oval-shaped and 13-20 mm long, with a
sharp pointed beak. It contains two fairly large, flat seeds, typically 8 mm
long by 5 mm wide, covered with matted hairs. Barleria has a central tap root,
with lateral roots branching off in all directions.
Chemical composition
The plant contains rich amount of
potassium
Medicinal uses: It has numerous medicinal properties including
treating fever, respiratory diseases, toothache, joint pains and a variety of
other ailments; and it has several cosmetic uses. A mouthwash made from root
tissue is used to relieve toothache and treat bleeding gums. The whole plant,
leaves, and roots are used for a variety of purposes in traditional Indian
medicine. For example, the leaves are used to promote healing of wounds and to
relieve joint pains and toothache. Because of its antiseptic properties, extracts
of the plant are incorporated into herbal cosmetics and hair products to
promote skin and scalp health.
Therapeutic uses
The whole plant is diuretic, tonic,
febrifuge and anticatarrhal; its decoction is given in dropsy. The juice of the
bark is diaphoretic and expectorant. The plant extract is bitter as quinine and
is used in the cure of whooping cough and tuberculosis.
Folk medicinal uses
The leaf juice, in doses of two table
spoonful with honey, is given twice a day in catarrhal diseases of children; with
cumin seeds it is given in spermatorrhoea. A paste of the leaves with salt is
applied to strengthen the gums and to relieve toothache. For treating severe
stomach pain accompanied with cough, ½ kg. whole plant of Kalabasa is kept in
one litre of cold water for 5-6 days. This is filtered and given in the dose of
5-ml. twice daily for a week.
Flowers :
October-March Fruits : March-June
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