Prickly chaff flower PRODUCT NAME
Achyranthes aspera L. SCIENTIFIC NAME
| Common Name: | Prickly chaff flower |
| Local Name: | Durva: neta chitki, Hindi: latjira, Tamil: nai uruwi, Naagarkaai mullu; Telugu: uttaren: Urumuli (Kurumba); |
| Family: | Amaranthaceae |
| Other Species of Same Genera: | |
| Product Description: | Erect or subscandent herbs, perennial. Stems simple or branched, furrowed and tinged red, nodes hairy and a little sunken on drying. Leaves elliptic, oblong or ovate, 9.9-22 x 5.2-12.8 cm, the midrib streaked red, nerves ghairy, acute, narrow at base, usually with closed appressed hairs beneath; petiole 1.8-2 cm long; secondary nerves about 10 pairs, those towards the base close together. Inflorescence in long spikes of green polished deflexed flowers; spikes 8-30 cm long; bracts 5 mm long, membranous, glabrous; bracteoles 1.5-4 mm long. Basal wings adnate to the spine. Tepals whitish, pale green to red or purple, all lanceolate, outer with very pungent tips, base not hardened in fruit. Plant exceedingly troublesome in fruit from the spinous bracteole and pungent pointed perianth that adhere to the clothes. Stamens 5, seeds smooth and filling the utricles. |
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DISTRIBUTION
| Countries Found: | India |
| Description: | Plains upto 1400m. Abundant in plantation of the hills. Tropics |
USES AND PARTS USED
| Parts Used: | leaves, leaflets, roots |
| Uses: | Leaves and roots are mixed with leaves of coriander and oil, with the seeds of Debregeasia longifolia, bark of Pterocarpus marsupium and mixed to make herbal oil. The oil is used after six months as a cure for sprains and fractures. |
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| Partners: | Keystone Foundation |
PARTNERS INVOLVED IN ACTIVITIES CONCERNING THIS NTFP
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