Action Bark—antipyretic, diaphoretic; used in rheumatism, dyspepsia and as antimalarial.
The root contains an alkaloid tulipiferin, traces of a glycoside, essential oil and tannin.
Litchi chinensis (Gaertn.) Sonn.
Synonym Nephelium litchi Cambess.
Family Sapindaceae.
Habitat Native to China; now cultivated mainly in Northern Bihar, particularly in Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga districts, and Saharanpur, Dehra Dun, Muzaffarnagar, Gorakhpur, Deoria, Gonda, Basti, Faizabad, Rampur, Bareilly, Bahraich, Kheri and Piibhit districts of Uttar Pradesh.
English Litchi, Lychee.
Action Fruit—refrigerant during summer. Leaf—used in bites of animals.
Litchi aril contains: total sugars (as invert sugar) 12.1—14.8; reducing sugar 9—13.7; non-reducing sugar 1.0—3.4; acidity (as citric acid) 0.22—0.36%; and ascorbic acid 34.5—45.4 mg!100 g.
The plant contains levulinic, malic, citric, lactic, malonic, fumaric, succinic, phosphoric and glutaric acids.
The Bark contains friedelin and stigmasterol.
Litchi seeds are prescribed in Malaya for neurological disorders and orchitis. In seed lipids, fatty acids cyclopropanoic 42.0; oleic 27.0, palmitic 12.0 and linoleic 11.0%, have been determined.
Lithospermum off icinanle Linn. Family Boraginaceae.
Habitat Kashmir and Kumaon, at altitudes of 1,500—2,700 m.
English b Corn Cromwell.
I-
380 Litsea glutinosa (Lour.) C. B. Robinson.
Folk Lubis firmun.
Action Leaves—sedative. Seeds— diuretic, lithotriptic. A decoction of roots and twigs is given in the form of syrup in eruptive diseases, such as smallpox and measles.
The aerial parts contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids.
Saline extracts of the aerial parts and roots, administered to experimental animals by injection, inhibit oestrus and the functioning of ovaries and testes; the activity of the thyroid gland is also reduced. The active principle is formed from phenolic precursors like caffeic, chlorogenic, rosmarinic acid as well as luteolin-7 beta-glucuronide by an oxidation step. Other constituents are lithospermic acid and shikonin.
Shikonin and acetyl-shikonin, the pigments of the root, exhibit anti- inflammatory activity comparable to phenylbutazone.
