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Herbs & Plants

Clerodendrum infortunatum(Gnetu ful in bengali)

Botanical Name :Clerodendrum infortunatum
Family: Lamiaceae /Verbenaceae.
Genus: Clerodendrum
Species: C. infortunatum
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Lamiales

Common Names: hill glory bower, Saraswaty’s leaf, sticky glorybower • Bengali: bhant, ghentu • Hindi: bhant • Kannada: ibbane • Lepcha: kumboul kung • Malayalam: peruku, vattaparuvalam • Manipuri: kuthap manbi • Marathi: bhandira • Sanskrit: bhandika, bhandira, bhantaka • Tamil: perugilai, vattakanni • Telugu: kattiyaku, saraswati-yaku ;

Habitat:  Clerodendrum infortunatum is native to tropical regions of Asia including Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Pakistan, Thailand, Malaysia, the Andaman Islands, and Sri Lanka.

Description :
Clerodendrum infortunatum is a perennial flowering shrub or small tree, and is so named because of its rather ugly leaf. The stem is eresct, 0.5–4 m high, with no branches and produce circular leaves with 6 inch diameter. Leaves are simple, opposite; both surfaces sparsely villous-pubescent, elliptic, broadly elliptic, ovate or elongate ovate, 3.5–20 cm wide, 6–25 cm long, dentate, inflorescence in terminal, peduncled, few-flowered cyme; flowers white with purplish pink or dull-purple throat, pubescent. Fruit berry, globose, turned bluish-black or black when ripe, enclosed in the red accrescent fruiting-calyx. The stem is hollow and the leaves are 6-8 inch (15–20 cm) long, borne in whorls of four on very short petioles. The inflorescence is huge, consisting of many tubular snow white flowers in a terminal cluster up to 2 ft (0.6 m) long. The tubes of the flowers are about 4 inch (10 cm) long and droop downward, and the expanded corollas are about 2 inch (5 cm) across. The fruits are attractive dark metallic blue drupes, about a half inch in diameter. Fruit usually with 4 dry nutlets and the seeds may be with or without endosperm. It flowers from April to August.

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Chemical composition: The major compounds are sterols, sugars, flavonoids and saponins. Novel crystalline compounds such as clerodolone, clerodone, clerodol and a sterol designated clerosterol have been isolated from the root. Seven sugars namely raffinose, lactose, maltose, sucrose, galactose, glucose and fructose were identified. Fumaric acid, caffeic acid esters, ?-sitosterol and ?-sitosterol glucoside were isolated from the flowers. Apigenin, acacetin and a new flavone glycoside, characterised as the methyl ester of acacetin-7-0-glucuronide are isolated from the flowers. Saponin is one of the major compounds of the leaf. 24 beta-ethylsterols, clerosterol and 22-dehydroclerosterol, 24-methyl-sterols (24-methylcholestanol, 24-methylcholesterol, 24-methyl-22-dehydrocholesterol, and 24-methyllathostero) and 24 beta-ethyl-22-dehydrocholestanol are found in the seeds.Scutellarin and hispidulin-7-O-glucuronide are present in the leaf. Poriferasterol and stigmasterol are the components of the aerial parts.

Properties and uses: The juice of the leaves is believed to possess anthelminitic properties-

Medicinal Uses:
Saponin (SN1) isolated from Clerodendrum  infortunatum leaves in doses of 30, 50, 75 and 100 mg/kg, ip provided 36.28, 60.47, 90.71, 100% protection respectively from writhing induced by 1.2% v/v acetic acid. In hot plate method, SN1 not only produced analgesia in mice but also potentiated the analgesic action of pentazocine and aspirin. The anticonvulsant activity was tested by leptazol-induced seizures. SN1 decreased the duration of seizures and gave protection in a dose dependent manner against leptazol-induced convulsions. The results suggest that saponin has significant analgesic and anticonvulsant effects.
In Ayurvedic and Siddha traditional medicines, the leaves and roots of C. infortunatum are used as herbal remedy for alopecia, asthma, cough, diarrhoea, rheumatism, fever and skin diseases. It is also known to have hepato-protective and antimicrobial activities.[FROM :unreliable medical source] The roots and bark of stem of this plant prepared as decoction and given in the dose of 60-80 ml twice daily for respiratory diseases, fever, periodic fever, cough, bronchial asthma, etc. The leaves are ground well and applied externally to induce ripenning of ulcers and swellings. A paste of leaves and roots are applied externally over skin diseases especially fungal infections and alopecia. Fresh leaves are given for diarrhoea, liver disorders and headache.
Traditional practices:
The leaf and root are widely used as antidandruff, antipyretic, ascaricide, laxative, vermifuge, and in treatments of convulsion, diabetes, gravel, malaria, scabies, skin diseases, sore, spasm, scorpion sting, snake bite and tumor. In Thai medicine the leaves and root are known to be diuretic; and used for treatment of intestinal infections and kidney dysfunction; when boiled or ground with water, it is taken to increase milk secretion for post-labor. In many traditional practices the leaves and root are widely used as antihyperglycemic.

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Disclaimer:
The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerodendrum_infortunatum
ভাইটা  ‘‍ঘন্টাকর্ণ’   : CLERODENDRUM INFORTUNATUM.,
https://sites.google.com/site/efloraofindia/species/a—l/l/lamiaceae/clerodendrum/clerodendrum-infortunatum

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