Habitat Tropical and subtropical Himalayas from Kumaon eastwards; also Bihar, West Bengal and Peninsular India, up to 1,200 m.
English Weaver’s Beam tree.
Ayurvedic Muskakaa. (Mokshaka, Ghantaa-Paatali, Kaashthapaatalaa are varieties of Paatalaa.)
Siddha/Tamil Mogalingum.
Action Leaves—used in enlargement of spleen and in urinary
discharges. Root—used for leprosy. Bark—used for boils and burns.
Fruits—beneficial in hydrocele.
The Fruits gave betulinic and oleanolic acids.
Schweinfurthia sphaerocarpa
A. Br.
Synonym S. papilionacea (Burm. f.) Boiss.
Family Scrophulariaceae.
Habitat The arid regions of Gujarat and in Rajasthan.
Ayurvedic Nepaal-Nimba.
Folk Saannipaat (Maharashtra).
Action Broken pieces of dried fruits, stems and leaves—used in enteric fever. Leaf—antidiabetic. Fruit, leaf, stem—diuretic.
An alkaloid, schweinfurthin, a hydrocarbon and an unsaturated ketone were reported from the leaves. Recently, two macrocylic alkaloids, 11- epi-ephedradine and schweinine, have been isolated from the whole plant, along with (—)-ephedradine A. Experimentally, ll-epi-ephedradine A was mutagenic to Salmonella typhimurium.
