activity.
Dosage Leaf, flower, bark—3—5 g powder; 50—100 ml decoction.
(CCRAS.)
Calotropis gigantea
(Linn.) R.Br. ex.Ait.
Family Asclepiadaceae.
Habitat b Throughout India.
English b Madar (white-flowered), Giant Milk-weed.
Ayurvedic Alarka, Raajaarka, Shvetaarka, Vasuka, Mandaar, Bhaasvanmuula, Dinesh, Prabhaakara, Ravi, Bhaanu, Tapana.
Unani Madaar, Aak. Siddha/Tamil Erukku.
Action Flowers—stomachic, bechic, antiasthmatic. Milky juice— purgative (gastrointestinal irritant). Roots—used in lupus, tuberculous leprosy, syphilitic ulceration. Leaves—juice poisonous. Used in external swellings. All parts—used against bronchitis and asthma.
The leaf extract showed antitussive activity due to the presence of alkaloids and glycosides. The root contains glycosides 0.60—1.42% on dry basis. The latex contains akudarin. Flowers contain beta-amyrin and stigmasterol.
Dosage Milky juice—500 mg; leaf, flower, root bark—3—5 g powder. (CCRAS.)
Calotropis procera (Ait.) R.Br.
Family Asclepiadaceae.
Habitat An evergreen shrub distributed in West and Central India.
English Swallow-Wart, Milk Weed, (purple-flowered), King’s Crown.
Ayurvedic b Alarka, Surya, Suuryaahvya, Vikirna, Vasuka, Tapana, Tuulaphala, Kshirparna, Arkaparna, Aasphota.
Unani Aalth, Madaar, Ashar. Siddha/Tamil Vellerukku, Erukku. Action The plant is used against
bronchial asthma (especially flowers with black pepper). Leaves—used for treating chronic cases of
114 Caltha palustris Linn.
dyspepsia, flatulence, constipation and mucus in stool. Seed oil— geriatric and tonic. Leaves, flowers and root-bark oil—antimicrobial (maximum activity in leaves). The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India indicated the use of the root and leaf in asthma and dyspnoea; stem bark in diseases of the spleen.
Root bark contains benzoyllineolone and benzolisolineolone. Root, stem and leaves, also latex contain beta-amyrin. Flowers contain evanidin 3 -rhamnoglucoside. The plant contains a cardenolide,
