Kariyat  

Kariyat is an erect annual herb extremely bitter in taste in all parts of the plant. It grows erect to a
height of 1-4 ft in moist shady places with smooth leaves and white flowers with rose-purple
spots on the petals. Stem dark green, 0.3 - 1.0 m in height, 2-6 mm in diameter, quadrangular
with longitudinal furrows and wings on the angles of the younger parts, slightly enlarged at the
nodes; leaves glabrous, up to 8.0 cm long and 2.5 cm broad, lanceolate, pinnate; flowers small, in
lax spreading axillary and terminal racemes or panicles; capsules linear-oblong, acute at both
ends, 1.9 cm x 0.3 cm; seeds numerous, sub quadrate, yellowish brown.
Medicinal uses: Since ancient times, Kariyat is used as a wonder drug in traditional Siddha and
Ayurvedic systems of medicine as well as in tribal medicine in India and some other countries
for multiple clinical applications. The therapeutic value of Kalmegh is due to its mechanism of
action which is perhaps by enzyme induction. The plant extract exhibits antityphoid and
antifungal activities.
Identification credit: Prashant Awale

Hophead   
Common name: Hophead, Philippine Violet • Bengali: Vishellakarani
Botanical name: Barleria lupulina    Family: Acanthaceae (Ruellia family)

Hophead is a popular medicinal plant distributed in mountains of southern and western India.
Shrubbery plant with single dark green leaves, red-brown branches, and flowers that bloom in
upright spikes. It is an erect shrub with smooth, hairless stems and leaves. Leaves narrowly
obovate, spine-tipped, 3.5-9 cm long, 0.8-1.2 cm wide. Flowers occur in a terminal spike with
overlapping bracts which are broadly ovate, 15 mm long, green with purple upper half. Flower
consists of a 3m long corolla tube, opening into 1 cm long petals. Longer stamen filaments 2 cm
long; shorter stamens fertile. Style is 3 cm long and smooth.
Medicinal uses: Traditional and therapeutic use is anti-inflammatory for insect bites, herpes
simplex use by its fresh leaves, and roots for anti-inflammatory centipede bites.
Photographed in Sonipat, Haryana

Porcupine Flower   

Common name: Porcupine flower, Barleria • Hindi: वज्रदं ती Vajradanti • Tamil: குந்தன்
Kundan • Kannada: Mullu goranti • Malayalam: Kuttivetila • Gujarati: Pilikantashelio
Botanical name: Barleria prionitis    Family: Acanthaceae (ruellia family)

Porcupine flower is an erect, prickly shrub, usually single-stemmed, growing to about 1.5 m tall.
The stems and branches are stiff and smooth and light brown to light grey in colour. The leaves
are up to 100 mm long and 40 mm wide, and oval-shaped though narrow at both ends (ellipsoid)
The base of the leaves is protected by three to five sharp, pale coloured spines, 10-20 mm long.
The yellow-orange tubular flowers are found bunched tightly together at the top of the plant, but
they also occur singly at the base of leaves. The flowers are 40 mm long and tubular, with
several long protruding stamens. The seed capsule is oval-shaped and 13-20 mm long, with a
sharp pointed beak. It contains two fairly large, flat seeds, typically 8 mm long by 5 mm wide,
covered with matted hairs. Barleria has a central tap root, with lateral roots branching off in all
directions.
Medicinal uses: It has numerous medicinal properties including treating fever, respiratory
diseases, toothache, joint pains and a variety of other ailments; and it has several cosmetic uses.
A mouthwash made from root tissue is used to relieve toothache and treat bleeding gums. The
whole plant, leaves, and roots are used for a variety of purposes in traditional Indian medicine.
For example, the leaves are used to promote healing of wounds and to relieve joint pains and
toothache. Because of its antiseptic properties, extracts of the plant are incorporated into herbal
cosmetics and hair products to promote skin and scalp health.

Identification credit: Thingnam Sophia Photographed in Delhi

Bell Weed

Common name: Bell Weed, Prostrate Wild Petunia, Black weed • Marathi: Kali dhawani •
Tamil: Pottakanchi • Malayalam: Upudali • Telugu: Neelambaram • Gujarati: Kalughavani, Kali
Dhraman
Botanical name: Dipteracanthus prostratus    Family: Acanthaceae (Ruellia family)
Synonyms: Ruellia prostrata
Bell Weed is a prostrate perennial herb, with stems often rooting at the nodes. Ovate green
leaves, 2-10 cm long, have lower surface conspicuously paler. Leaf stalk is 5-30 mm long.
Flowers occur solitary in the leaf axils, each one subtended by oblanceolate to ovate bracts 1.5-
2.3 cm long. Sepals 5, linear, 6-10 mm long. Flowers are violet blue to occasionally nearly white,
2.4-3.2 cm long, the petals slightly spreading. Capsules club-shaped, 1.5-2 cm long, densely
covered with fine hairs. Flowering: August-September.
Medicinal uses: Believed to be anticancer against the epidermis of the nasopharynx region and
slightly hypoglycemic.
Identification credit: Uluberia Botanical Institute

Blue Fox Tail   

Common name: Blue Fox Tail, Blue Justicia • Bengali: Neel Kantha • Hindi: udajati • Kannada:
kappubobbuli, kappukuruni • Malayalam: karinkurinni, kuranta • Marathi: dhakta adulsa,
Ranaboli. Ekboli • Sanskrit: nila-sahacharah • Tamil: Nilambari • Telugu: chikatiquratappa,
nakkatoka
Botanical name: Ecbolium linneanum    Family: Acanthaceae (Ruellia family)
Synonyms: Justicia ecbolia

Blue Fox Tail is a shrubby plant, with 4-sided flower-spikes at the end of branches. Bracts are
oval, entire, mucronate. Leaves are elliptic-oblong, narrowed at both ends, velvety. Flowers are
large, greenish blue. Upper lip of the flower is linear, reflexed. Blue Fox Tail is found in
Mumbai and Konkan region.
Medicinal uses: Plant is used in gout and dysuria; decoction of leaves for stricture. Roots are
given in jaundice, menorrhagia and rheumatism.

Marsh Barbel   

Common name: Marsh Barbel • Hindi: Gokula kanta • Marathi: तालीम ख़ाना Talim Khana •
Tamil: Nirumuli • Malayalam: Voyal-chullai • Telugu: Kokilakshi • Kannada: Kalavankabija •
Bengali: Shulamardan • Konkani: Kalaso • Sanskrit: कोकिलाक्ष Kokilaksha, Shrinkhali
Botanical name: Hygrophila schulli    Family: Acanthaceae (Ruellia family)
Synonyms: Hygrophila auriculata

Marsh Barbel is a stout aquatic perennial herb, 1-2 m high. Erect unbranched stems are hairy
near swollen nodes. Densely hairy, lance-like, stalkless leaves, 10-15 cm long, occur in whorls of
6 at each node on the stem. Straight, yellow, 4 cm long spines are present in the axil of each leaf.
Flowers occur in 4 pairs at each node. The 3 cm long purple-blue flowers are 2-lipped - the upper
lip is 2-lobed and the lower one 3-lobed with lengthwise folds. Flowers open in opposite pairs.
Flowering: October-April.
Medicinal uses: Kokilaksha, as it is known in sanskrit, was extensively used in Ayurvedic
system of medicine for various ailments like rheumatism, inflammation, jaundice, hepatic
obstruction, pain, etc.
Malabar Nut

Common name: Malabar Nut, {Arusa, Vasala} Nongmangkha angouba (Manipuri), Adatodai
(Tamil), Basak (Bengali)
Botanical name: Adhatoda vasica      Family: Acanthaceae (ruellia family)
Synonyms: Justicia adhatoda

A small evergreen, sub-herbacious bush which grows commonly in open plains, especially in the
lower Himalayas. The Leaves are 10 to 16 cms in length, minutely hairy and broadly lanceolate.
A herbal plant which requires very little watering and is an extremely hardy plant is Malabar nut.
If there is one herbal plant that needs to be singled out for propagation and planting on a large
scale, it would be this one. Adhatoda in Tamil, meaning a plant shunned by herbivorous animals.
Propagated easily by cuttings, grows to a height of eight to 14 feet and has attractive white
flowers.
Medicinal uses: Adhatoda is useful for curing coughs, colds and asthma and is easy to
administer.It has been used for centuries, and is mentioned in Sanskrit scriptures.
Identification credit: Thingnam Sophia

Gandarusa  
Common name: Gandarusa, Warer willow • Hindi: Nili nargandi, Kala bashimb • Marathi: tev,
bakas, kalaadulsa • Tamil: karunochi, vadaikkutti • Malayalam: karunochchi, vada-kodi •
Telugu: addasaramu, gandharasamu, nalla-noch-chili • Kannada: aduthodagidda, karalakkigidde,
karinekki • Bengali: jagatmadan • Oriya: nilanirgundi • Assamese: tita-bahak, bishalya karani •
Sanskrit: bhutakeshi, gandharasa, indrani, kapika, krishnanirgundi
Botanical name: Justicia gendarussa    Family: Acanthaceae (Ruellia family)
Synonyms: Gendarussa vulgaris, Adhatoda subserrata

Gandarusa is an erect, branched, smooth undershrub 0.8-1.5 m tall. The leaves are lance-shaped,
7-14 cm long, 1-2.5 cm wide, and pointed at the ends. The rather small flowers are borne in 4-12
cm long spikes, at the end of branches or in leaf axils. The teeth of the sepals cup are smooth,
linear, and about 3 mm long. The flowers are about 1.5 cm long, white or pink, with purple spots.
The capsule is club-shaped, about 12 mm long, and smooth.
Medicinal uses: Gandarusa is reputed for its beneficial effects in Respiratory disorders like
cough, cold, bronchitis, throat infections, pulmonary infections and allergic disorders like
bronchial asthma. It is assumed to possess greater medicinal value to yellow vasa plant or
Adhatoda vasica.
Identification credit: N.S. Dungriyal

Water Willow
Common name: Water Willow • Marathi: Ghati Pitpapad
Botanical name: Justicia procumbens    Family: Acanthaceae (Ruellia family)

Water Willow is a slender, often tufted, prostrate or ascending, branched perennial herb. The
stems are 10-40 cm long. The leaves are elliptic to oblong-ovate or ovate, 7-20 mm long, 5-20
mm wide, obtuse at both ends, and entire or slightly crenate as to margin. The flowers are pink,
6-7 mm long, and borne in terminal, rather dense, cylindric spikes 1-5 cm long and about 5 mm
in diameter. The bracts and sepals are green, linear-lanceolate, and hairy. The fruit (capsule) is
slightly hairy and about 4 mm long.
Medicinal uses: The herb contains a bitter alkaloid and that it is used as a substitute for Fumaria.
It is alternative and expectorant and is given in the form of infusion (1 to 20) in asthma, coughs,
and rheumatism. The juice of the leaves is squeezed into the eyes in cases of ophthalmia. The
odor of the whole plant is unpleasant; it is used in decoction for backache, plethora, and
flatulence.
Identification credit: Hemanth Tripathi Photographed in Thane, Maharashtra.

Crested Lepidagathis  
Common name: Crested Lepidagathis • Hindi: बख़
ु ार जडी Bukhar Jadi • Marathi: भई
ू गें द Bhui
Gend, भू तेरडा Bhu terada • Tamil: Karappanpoondu • Kannada: Surya Kantha
Botanical name: Lepidagathis cristata    Family: Acanthaceae (Ruellia family)

Crested Lepidagathis is a perennial herb, with almost no stem. Branches, 20 cm long, arise out of
a globose head on the ground, and spread out. Flowers are also arise stalkless from this globose
head. Flowers are pale pink, 2-lipped. The upper lip is notched, and the lower lip is divided into
3 lobes.
Medicinal uses: In Chattisgarh they use this herb in treatment of fever particularly in treatment
of Malarial fever. The decoction of leaves is used internally for this purpose. Its utility in
treatment of fever has given it the name Bukhar Jadi In reference literatures, the use of this herb
in treatment of itchy affections of skin has been mentioned. The traditional healers of
Chhattisgarh Plains are aware of this use. In many parts of Chhattisgarh, the cattle owners use
the decoction of this herb to wash the cattle in rainy season in order to keep it free from flies.
Identification credit: Rahul Prabhu Khanolkar

Frilly Lepidagathis   
Common name: Frilly Lepidagathis •
Botanical name: Lepidagathis trinervis    Family: Acanthaceae (Ruellia family)

Frilly Lepidagathis is a prostrae to suberect undershrub, up to a foot tall. Twigs are

quardrangular, bristly or glabrous twigs, arising from a woody rootstock. Leaves are sessile,
linear to narrowly lanceshaped, 2-4.5 cm long, 3-5 mm broad, hairless, 3-nerved from the base,
lateral nerves weaker than midrib and run along entire margin. Flowers are light pink, in dense,
one-sided stalkless oblong-ovoid spikes, 1-2 cm long, in leaf axils. The spikes are fascicled near
rootstock or a little higher up. Flowers have a frilly appearance because of the long, spine-tipped
bracts. Bracts are ovate or elliptic-ovate, 4-5 x 2.5-3 mm, with a 3.5-4.5 mm long recurved spine
at the tip. Bracteoles are nearly as long as long bracts, outer oblong-lanceshaped, long-pointed,
inner wedge-shaped, membranous. Sepals are 5, 7-8 mm long, membranous, pointed but not
spine-tipped. Flowers are spotted inside, 5-6 mm long, densely long silky hairy in bud, upper lip
slightly notched, lower lip with 3, patent obtuse lobes. Capsule is ovoid-lanceshaped, 5-6 mm
long, 2-seeded, hairless. Flowering: September-February.
Medicinal uses: The plant is used as a bitter tonic. It is used for rheumatic affections.
Identification credit: Prashant Awale

Blue Pussyleaf  
Common name: Blue Pussyleaf
Botanical name: Nelsonia canescens    Family: Acanthaceae (Ruellia family)
Synonyms: Justicia canescens, Justicia brunelloides, Nelsonia brunelloides

Blue Pussyleaf is a softly velvety trailing or erect herb of shaded locations, often stream-beds of
the savanna grasslands in Africa. It is naturalized in India and many other parts of the tropical
world. Stems are up to 35 cm long, most parts densely covered in soft spreading hairs.
Oppositely arranged leaves are elliptic, with margin entire. Flowers are borne in cylindrical
spikes at the end of branches, with ovate, glandular and hairy bracts. Flowers are 2-lipped,
mauve-blue, purplish or white, with 5 petals. Capsule are oblong, slightly beaked.
Medicinal uses: It is known as a salt-substitute.The sap of the leaves is applied topically to
guineaworm sores in Ivory Coast-Upper Volta to kill the causative parasite. Nupe of Northern
Nigeria prepare a brew of the plant for treating smallpox, and in Tanganyika the sap is taken for
diarrhoea and the root in decoction for schistosomiasis.
Identification credit: Prashant Awale

Wild Nongmangkha  
ommon name: Wild Nongmangkha • Manipuri: Lamgi nongmangkha
Botanical name: Phlogacanthus curviflorus    Family: Acanthaceae (Ruellia family)
Synonyms: Justicia curviflora

Wild Nongmangkha is a large branched shrub, up to 3-4 m tall. Oppositely arranged leaves are 8-
10 inches long. They are elliptic, pointed at both ends, sometimes somewhat toothed. Flowers are
borne in upright spikes at the end of branches. Flowers are long, tube-like, reddish. The end of
the tube is 2-lipped. Stamens are 2, slightly protruding out. Wild Nongmangkha is found in NE
India.
Medicinal uses: In Manipur, boiled leaf juice is used as a tea-like drink to cure cough and fever.
Flowers are eaten raw or fried as tonic. In Arunachal Pradesh, pounded flowers are used as
condiment.
Identification credit: Ritesh Choudhary, Tanay Bose

Nongmangkha   
Common name: Nongmangkha (Manipuri), Banheka (Assamese)
Botanical name: Phlogacanthus thyrsiformis    Family: Acanthaceae (ruellia family)
Synonyms: Phlogacanthus thyrsiflorus, Justicia thyrsiformis, Justicia thyrsiflora

Nongmangkha is a gregarious shrub, common in the Manipur valley. This plant has long orange-
red tubular flowers, appearing in upright spikes at the end of branches. Leaves are ovoid to
lance-like, with smooth margins. In Manipur, it is an extremely popular medicinal plant.
Medicinal uses: In Manipur, local people prefer it to Malabar Nut (Justicia adhatoda) It is
useful for curing coughs, colds and asthma and is easy to administer. Flowers are antidote to pox,
prevents skin diseases like sore, scabies etc.

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