Habitat Eastern Himalayas, Assam, West Bengal, Western Ghats,
Travancore and the Andaman Islands.
English Iron-wood, Mesu.
Ayurvedic Naagakeshara, Naagapushpa, Chaampeya, Naaga, Naagakinjalika, Ahipushpa. (In
Ayurvedic Form ubary of India Part I, revised edn 2003, Keshara and Kesara are equated with Mesua
ferrea, while Kumkuma is equated with Crocus sativus.)
Unani Naarmushk.
Siddha/Tamil Sirunagappo,
Nagakesaram. Sirunagappo also consists of the tender fruits
of Cinamonum wighti Meissn.
Malabar Naagakeshar consists of the fruits of Dihbenia pentagyna Roxb.
Action Flower bud—antidysenteric. Flowers—astringent, haemostatic, anti-inflammatory, stomachic.
Used in cough, bleeding piles, metrorrhagia. Essential oil from
stamens—antibacterial, antifungal.
The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India recommends the use of dry stamens in gout, haemorrhagic disorders and diseases of the urinary bladder.
The heartwood gave xanthones— euxanthone, mesuaxanthones A and B, which exhibit anti-inflammatory, CNS depressant and antimicrobial activities.
The seed oil gave 4-phenyl coumarin analogues—mesuol, mammeigin, mesuagin, mammeisin and mesuone. Phenol-containing fraction of seed oil is antiasthmatic and antianaphylaxis.
Stamens gave alpha- and beta-amyrin, beta- sitosterol, biflavonoids, mesuaferrones A and B, and mesuanic
412 Meyna laxiflora Robyns.
acid. Stamens constitute the drug Naagakeshar of Indian medicine, used as an astringent, haemostatic, particularly in uterine bleeding and renal diseases.
Ethanolic extract of the plant showed diuretic and hypotensive activity.
Dosage Dried stamens—l—3 g powder. (API, Vol. II.)
Meyna laxiflora Robyns.
Synonym Vangueria spinosa Hook. f.
Family Rubiaceae.
Habitat West Bengal, Bthar, Orissa, in hedges and waste places.
