Disclaimer : This databank is curated from literature and may not claim for any medications or directly use of plants without any prior knowledge or consultation of physician.



Botanical Name Plant's Common Name Plant Family

MA004 : Ceratophyllum demersum L.

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Melghat's Flora's Serial No. : 487  
Class : Magnoliopsida - Dicotyledons
Order : Nymphaeales
Family : Ceratophyllaceae - Hornwort family
Genus : Ceratophyllum L. - hornwort
Species : Ceratophyllum demersum L. - coon's tail
Plant Location in Melghat : In Stagnant water pools in Tapti and other major rivers  
Plant Category : Aquatic  
Plant's Current Status : UNCOMMON, Endemic  
Plant Family : Ceratophyllaceae  

 
Plant Common Name : hornwort, rigid hornwort, coontail, coon's tail, Hornwort, Sheivalam, Jalnili, Jalaja, Shaival, Velampasi, Sevar,
 
Synonym : Ceratophyllum aquaticum H.C.Watson.
Ceratophyllum asperum Lam.
Ceratophyllum cornutum Rich.
Ceratophyllum demersum var. inflatum R.E.Fr.
Ceratophyllum demersum var. oxyacanthum (Cham.) K.Schum.
Ceratophyllum demersum var. tricorne Van Haes.
Ceratophyllum gibbum Laforet ex Nyman.
Ceratophyllum indicum Willd. ex Cham.
Ceratophyllum oxyacanthum Cham.
Ceratophyllum tricorne Dumort.
Ceratophyllum tricuspidatum Dumort.
Ceratophyllum tuberculatum Cham.
Ceratophyllum verticillatum Roxb.
Ceratophyllum vulgare Schleid.


Description : Much branched, rootless, submerged, aquatic plants, 15-60 (-90) cm long. Leaves whorled, 1-4 times dichotomously branched, minutely toothed at irregular intervals, often terminated by 1 or 2 sharp bristles. Flowers minute, solitary, axillary, unisexual, male and female flowers at different nodes. Perianth segments 6-15, upto 1 mm long, connate at the base, each segment terminated by 2 bristles. Male flowers consisting of 8-30 stamens, spirally arranged on a convex receptacle, narrowed into the base, subsessile, apex terminated by two spinous incurved processes; anthers erect, 2-lobed, pollen elliptical or round. Female flower consists of a sessile carpel, ovary 1-celled, 1-ovuled, style simple, stigma oblique, style elongating in fruit forming the apical spine. Fruit a nutlet, 3.5-4 mm long, 2.5-3 mm broad (excluding spines), sessile with persistent perianth, ovoid, compressed, provided with 3 spines; one apical and 2-lateral, near the base.
 
Curated Medicinal Use / Activity : The whole plant has been traditionally used in the treatment of wounds, fever, burning sensation, hemorrhoids or piles, intrinsic hemorrhages, hyperdipsia, epistaxis and hematemesis. Coontail is prescribed for cardiac infections, giddiness, haemothermia, Leucorrhoea, morbid thirst, rheumatism spermaturia, venereal diseases. Leaf juice is used to stop vomiting, as cooling agent and to cure skin disorders.
 
Plant's Phytochemicals : ferredoxin
plastocyanin
tricin-7-O-beta-D-glucoside
naringenin-7-O-beta-D-glucoside
esculetin
beta-sitosterol
7 alpha-hydroxyl-beta-sitosterol
7 alpha-methoxyl-beta-sitosterol
palmitic acid

Reference : ~ Dhore MA and Joshi PA; "Flora of Melghat Tiger Reserve"; Directorate, Project Tiger, Melghat (1988); PMID :