चित्रक - Plumbago zeylanica
Name - चित्रक
Botanical name - Plumbago zeylanica
Description - Plumbago zeylanica is a perennial herb, in shady places. Sub scandent. stems 2-5 ft long. woody, spreading. terete and glabrous. Thin ovate, subacute leaves, entire and glabrous. Flowers in elongate spikes, glandular rachis, striate. White corolla, slender. Capsules oblong. Pointed (ellipsoid); pericarp-thin below, thick and hardened above
Chemical Constituents- Roots contain plumbagin, droserone, elliptinone, nisoshinanolone, plumbazeylanone, 3-chloroplumbagin, 3,3'- biplumbagin, naphthaquinone - chitranone, zeyinone and isozeylinone. Root bark contains plumbagin. Aerial parts contain free amino acids. Leaves and stem contain volatile oil
Use - It is a carminative, abortificient, vesicant and diuretic, used in sprue, dyspepsia, piles, anasarca, diarrhoea and skin diseases. Root paste applied for opening abscesses, and in many Ayurvedic classical preparations. The drug is acrid, vesicant and stimulant. Used in rheumatism and paralysis. It is a powerful sialagogue and a remedy for secondary syphilis and leprosy
