MPdb: Melghat Plant Data Bank
MH246 : Polygonum barbatum L. |
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| Melghat's Flora's Serial No. : | 443 |
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| Plant Location in Melghat : | - | |||||||||||||
| Plant Category : | Herbs | |||||||||||||
| Plant's Current Status : | ||||||||||||||
| Plant Family : | Polygonaceae | |||||||||||||
| Plant Common Name : | knot grass | |||||||||||||
| Synonym : | Persicaria barbata (L.) Hara. Polygonum serrulatum Lagasca. Polygonum stagninum Meisner. |
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| Description : | a herbaceous perennial weed, branching and tillering from the base, basal branches creeping and rooting, other branches erect, 40-80 cm tall. Stem cylindrical, hollow, thickened at the nodes, glabrous to appressed pilose; ochrea tubular, amplexicaul, tight, often torn, 1.5-2.5 cm long, membraneous, the many strong nerves extended into filiform, 0.5-2 cm-long appendages. Leaves entire, helically arranged, shortly petioled, oblong to lanceolate, with acute to obtuse or subcordate base and acute apex; sometimes with brown spot, with many transparent ascendent lateral nerves, both sides more or less densely long- or short-appressed hairy, or glabrous above, 8-20 x 1.5-3 cm. Inflorescence terminal and in the upper axils; sparingly branched, the raceme erect, 2-8 spikes combined into dense, cylindrical pseudo-spikes, 2-6 cm x 7-8 mm; lower pseudo-spikes peduncled, upper ones sessile. Flowers all the year round, actinomorphic, bisexual, 3-5 in the axil of a funnel-shaped bract; pedicel subequal to bract; bract obconical, glabrous or appressed-hairy, 2.5-3 mm long, apex fimbriate; perigone persistent, eglandular, 5-cleft, white to greenish white, sometimes pink, 2-2.3 mm long; lobes imbricate, oval, obtuse. Stamens 6-7, subequal to perianth, inserted around a lobed disc, filaments filiform; anthers dorsiflexed, 2-celled, longitudinally dehiscent. Ovary superior, with one cell, 1-ovulate, trigonous, style (3-2)-armed; stigma capitate. Fruit indehiscent, usually trigonous, sides flat or slightly convex, rarely lenticular, glossy black, 1.8-2 mm long. Seed with much endosperm. | |||||||||||||
| Curated Medicinal Use / Activity : | The seeds are used to relieve the griping pains of colic. The root is astringent and cooling. A paste of the root is used externally in the treatment of scabies. | |||||||||||||
| Plant's Phytochemicals : | oxalic acid sitosterone viscozulenic acid acetophenone |
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| Reference : | ~ Dhore MA and Joshi PA; "Flora of Melghat Tiger Reserve"; Directorate, Project Tiger, Melghat (1988); PMID : |
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