Common Name: Acalypha indica
English: Indian acalypha, Indian nettle, three-seeded mercury
French: Ricinelle des Indes, oreille de chatte, herbe chatte
Tamil: Poonamayakki, Kuppaimeni
Sanskrit: Harita-manjari
Bengali: Muktajhuri
Gujarati: Dadano
Kannada: Kuppigida
Malayalam: Kuppaimeni
Marathi: Khajoti
Telugu: Kuppichettu
Common annual shrub in Indian gardens and waste places throughout the plains of India. The leaf petioles are long and slender. The leaves are oval in shape. The numerous tiny maroon coloured flowers are found on several pendulous stalks and hence the common name known as cat tail.
Acalypha indica is a species of plant having catkin type of inflorescence. It occurs throughout tropical Africa and South Africa, in India and Sri Lanka, as well as in Yemen and Pakistan. It has possibly been introduced elsewhere as a weed. In West and East Africa the plant is used as a medicinal plant.It is a common herb growing upto 75 cm tall with ovate leaves. Flowers are green, unisexual found in catkin inflorescence.This plant is held in high esteem in traditional Tamil Siddha medicine as it is believed to rejuvenate the body.
Parts Used : Whole plant
Taste : Bitter, pungent
Actions :
Anodyne, anthelmintic, cathartic, diuretic
Uses :
Ulcers, pain of snake-bite, skin diseases, asthma, pneumonia, rheumatism, scabies, vermifuge.
How to Use :
The juice extracted from the leaves, mixed with lime and applied on skin to cure diseases caused by Ringworm.Fresh juice of leaves mixed with oil and salt is used for Rheumatoid_arthritis and to cure Scabies. Powdered leaves are used to cure bedsores and infected wounds. The active medicinal compounds like Acalyphine and Triacetoneamine are extracted from this plant.They contain cyanogenic glucoside and alkaloids.The paste of the leaves can be applied to burns.
Leaves posses laxative properties ; "are used as a substitute for senega" ; are used in the form of powder or decoction ; mixed with garlic they are used as anthelmintic in worms. Mixed with common salt they are applied to scabies ; and their juice mixed with oil forms an application in rheumatic arthritis. Powder of dry leaves is used in bed sores. Hakims treat cases of acute mania and hysteria in early stages by the following mode - Take one ounce of fresh juice of the leaves and dissolve in it six grains of common salt ; drop a little of this mixture in each nostril every six hours from morning and then place the patient under cold shower baths for three mornings regularly ; this gives relief from running rose.
Dosage :
1/2 teaspoon morning and evening mixed with some honey or hot water.
Note: Siddha treatment is based on complete physical examination of the patient, Naadi diagnosis, and other diagnostic criteria of the disease. The content given in this article is purely meant for information and education purpose only. Kindly consult a Siddha physician before any sort of self medication.
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