Medical Plants
Andrographis paniculata is a herbaceous plant in the family Acanthaceae, native to India and Sri Lanka.
It is widely cultivated in southern Asia, where it is used to treat infections and some diseases, often being used before antibiotics were created. Mostly the leaves and roots were used for medicinal purposes.
| |
edit]Etymology
Andrographis paniculata is an erect annual herb extremely bitter in taste in each and every part of the plant body. The plant is known in north-eastern India as ‘Maha-tita’, literally ‘king of bitters’, and known by various vernacular names (see the table below). As an Ayurveda herb it is known as Kalmegh or Kalamegha, meaning `dark cloud.' It is also known as ‘Bhui-neem’, ‘neem of the ground,’ since the plant, though being a small annual herb, has a similar strong bitter taste as that of the large Neem tree (Azadirachta indica). In Malaysia, it is known as 'Hempedu Bumi' literally means 'bile of earth' since it is one of the most bitter plants that are used in traditional medicine. The genus Andrographis consists of 28 species of small annual shrubs essentially distributed in tropical Asia. Only a few species are medicinal, of which A. paniculata is the most popular.
[edit]List of vernacular names of A. paniculata Nees
[pic]
[edit]Description
Andrographis paniculata (Kiriyatta)(Kalpa,穿心蓮,Ken Jang). It grows erect to a height of 30–110 cm in moist shady places with glabrousleaves and white flowers with rose-purple spots on the petals. Stem dark green, 0.3 - 1.0 m in height, 2 – 6 mm in diameter, quadrangular with longitudinal furrows and wings on the angles of the younger parts, slightly enlarged at the nodes; leaves glabrous, up to 8.0 cm long and 2.5 cm broad, lanceolate, pinnate; flowers small, in lax spreading axillary and terminal racemes or panicles; capsules linear-oblong, acute at both ends, 1.9 cm x 0.3 cm; seeds numerous, sub quadrate, yellowish brown.
[edit]Distribution
A. paniculata is distributed
It is widely cultivated in southern Asia, where it is used to treat infections and some diseases, often being used before antibiotics were created. Mostly the leaves and roots were used for medicinal purposes.
| |
edit]Etymology
Andrographis paniculata is an erect annual herb extremely bitter in taste in each and every part of the plant body. The plant is known in north-eastern India as ‘Maha-tita’, literally ‘king of bitters’, and known by various vernacular names (see the table below). As an Ayurveda herb it is known as Kalmegh or Kalamegha, meaning `dark cloud.' It is also known as ‘Bhui-neem’, ‘neem of the ground,’ since the plant, though being a small annual herb, has a similar strong bitter taste as that of the large Neem tree (Azadirachta indica). In Malaysia, it is known as 'Hempedu Bumi' literally means 'bile of earth' since it is one of the most bitter plants that are used in traditional medicine. The genus Andrographis consists of 28 species of small annual shrubs essentially distributed in tropical Asia. Only a few species are medicinal, of which A. paniculata is the most popular.
[edit]List of vernacular names of A. paniculata Nees
[pic]
[edit]Description
Andrographis paniculata (Kiriyatta)(Kalpa,穿心蓮,Ken Jang). It grows erect to a height of 30–110 cm in moist shady places with glabrousleaves and white flowers with rose-purple spots on the petals. Stem dark green, 0.3 - 1.0 m in height, 2 – 6 mm in diameter, quadrangular with longitudinal furrows and wings on the angles of the younger parts, slightly enlarged at the nodes; leaves glabrous, up to 8.0 cm long and 2.5 cm broad, lanceolate, pinnate; flowers small, in lax spreading axillary and terminal racemes or panicles; capsules linear-oblong, acute at both ends, 1.9 cm x 0.3 cm; seeds numerous, sub quadrate, yellowish brown.
[edit]Distribution
A. paniculata is distributed