Categories
Herbs & Plants

Mucuna pruriens

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Botanical Name :Mucuna pruriens
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Tribe:     Phaseoleae
Genus:     Mucuna
Species: M. pruriens
Kingdom: Plantae
Order:     Fabales

Synonyms: Dolichos pruriens. Stizolobium pruriens. Mucuna prurita. Setae Siliquae Hirsutae. Cowage. Cowitch. Couhage. Kiwach.

Common Names:(French) Cadjuet. Pois velus. Pois à gratter. Liane à gratter. Pois pouilleux. Ceil de bourrique.
(German) Kratzbohnen. Kuhkratze.

* Bieh (in the Madurese language)
* Ci mao li dou  (in Chinese)
* Nasagunnikaayi ( in Kannada)
* Kara benguk in the Javanese language
* Atmagupta or Kapikacchu (in Sanskrit)
* Kiwanch or Konch ( in Hindi)
* Khaajkuiri in Marathi
* Alkushi  (in Bengali)
* Poonaikkaali ( in Tamil)
* Velvet bean, Cowhage, Cowitch, Donkey eye, monkey tamarind, and Buffalo beans in English (the last also refers to Thermopsis rhombifolia)
* Juckbohne (German: “itch bean”)
* Fogareté (Dominican Republic); Picapica (everywhere), in Spanish
* Kapikachu
* Werepe or YerepeYoruba
* Duradagondi (in Telugu)
* Feijão maluco, “mad bean” (Angola and Mozambique); pó-de-mico, “itching powder”, feijão-da-flórida, “Florida’s bean”, feijão-cabeludo-da-índia, “hairy/pilous Indian bean”, feijão-de-gado, “cattle’s bean”, feijão-mucuna, “mucuna bean”, feijão-veludo, “velvet bean”, and mucuna-vilosa, “fleecy mucuna” (Brazil and Portugal), in Portuguese
* Chitedze (Malawi)
* Naykuruna  (in Malayalam)
* Mah mui (in Thai language)
* Móc mèo (in Vietnamese language)
* Kavach beej
* Inyelekpe (Nigeria) in Igala
* Upupu in Kiswahili
* Baidanka (in Oriya)
* Pois mascate (Reunion Island) in French
* Wandhuru Mæ in Sinhala
* Kway lee yerr thee (in Myanmar)
* Agbala (Nigeria) in Ibo
* “Bandar Kekowa” (in Assamese)
* “picapica (puerto rico).

Habitat :Mucuna pruriens is  native to Tropical regions, especially East and West Indies. (It is  widely naturalized  Africa and Asia ).

Description:
The plant is an annual, climbing shrub with long vines that can reach over 15 m in length. When the plant is young, it is almost completely covered with fuzzy hairs, but when older, it is almost completely free of hairs. The leaves are tripinnate, ovate, reverse ovate, rhombus-shaped or widely ovate. The sides of the leaves are often heavily grooved and the tips are pointy. In young M.pruriens plants, both sides of the leaves have hairs. The stems of the leaflets are two to three millimeters long. Additional adjacent leaves are present and are about 5 mm long.

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The flower heads take the form of axially arrayed panicles. They are 15 to 32 cm long and have two or three, or many flowers. The accompanying leaves are about 12.5 mm long, the flower stand axes are from 2.5 to 5 mm. The bell is 7.5 to 9 mm long and silky. The sepals are longer or of the same length as the shuttles. The crown is purplish or white. The flag is 1.5 mm long. The wings are 2.5 to 3.8 cm long.

In the fruit ripening stage, a 4 to 13 cm-long, 1 to 2 cm-wide, unwinged, leguminous fruit develops. There is a ridge along the length of the fruit. The husk is very hairy and carries up to seven seeds. The seeds are flattened uniform ellipsoids, 1 to 1.9 cm long, 0.8 to 1.3 cm wide and 4 to 6.5 cm thick. The hilum, the base of the funiculus (connection between placenta and plant seeds) is a surrounded by a significant arillus (fleshy seeds shell).

M.pruriens bears white, lavender, or purple flowers. Its seed pods are about 10 cm long  and are covered in loose, orange hairs that cause a severe itch if they come in contact with skin. The chemical compounds responsible for the itch are a protein, mucunain and serotonin.  The seeds are shiny black or brown drift seeds.

The dry weight of the seeds is 55 to 85 g/100 seeds

Edible Uses:
M. pruriens is sometimes used as a coffee substitute called “Nescafe” (not to be confused with the commercial brand Nescafé). Cooked fresh shoots or beans can also be eaten. This requires that they be soaked from at least 30 minutes to 48 hours in advance of cooking, or the water changed up to several times during cooking, since otherwise the plant can be toxic to humans. The above described process leaches out phytochemical compounds such as levodopa, making the product more suitable for consumption. If consumed in large quantities as food, unprocessed M. pruriens is toxic to non-ruminant mammals, including humans.

Medicinal Uses:

Parts Used:  The hairs of the pod, seeds.

Chemical Constituents:In addition to levodopa, it contains minor amounts of serotonin (5-HT), 5-HTP, nicotine, N,N-DMT (DMT), bufotenine, and 5-MeO-DMT. As such, it could potentially have psychedelic effects, and it has purportedly been used in ayahuasca preparations.

The mature seeds of the plant contain about 3.1–6.1% L-DOPA,[11] with trace amounts of 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin), nicotine, DMT-n-oxide, bufotenine, 5-MeO-DMT-n-oxide, and beta-carboline. One study using 36 samples of the seeds found no tryptamines present in them.

The leaves contain about 0.5% L-DOPA, 0.006% dimethyltryptamine (DMT), 0.0025% 5-MeO-DMT and 0.003% DMT n-oxide.

The ethanolic extract of leaves of Mucuna pruriens possesses anticataleptic and antiepileptic effect in albino rats. Dopamine and serotonin may have a role in such activity

The hairs are usually filled with air, but sometimes contain granular matter, with tannic acid and resin. No tincture or decoction is effective.

A mechanical anthelmintic. The hairs, mixed with syrup, molasses, or honey, pierce the bodies of intestinal worms, which writhe themselves free from the walls, so that a brisk cathartic will bring them away. It is usually a safe remedy, but enteritis has sometimes followed its use. It has little effect upon tape-worm, but is good for Ascaris lumbricoides and in slightly less degree for the smaller Oxyuris vermicularis.

Benefits of Mucuna pruriens

In the form of an ointment, Mucuna has been used as a local stimulant in paralysis and other affections, acting like Croton oil. A decoction of the root or legumes is said to have been used in dropsy as a diuretic and for catarrh, and in some parts of India an infusion is used in cholera.

It is a good medium for the application of such substances as muriate of morphia. In the proportion of 7 to 8 grains of cowhage to an ounce of lard, it should be rubbed in for from 10 to 20 minutes. It brings out flat, white pimples, which soon disappear. Oil relieves the heat and irritation caused on the skin.

The seeds are said to be aphrodisiac.

CLICK & SEE THE   HEALTH BENEFITS OF MUCUNA PRURIENS

Other Uses:
In many parts of the world, Mucuna pruriens is used as an important forage, fallow and green manure crop. Since the plant is a legume, it fixes nitrogen and fertilizes soil.

M. pruriens is a widespread fodder plant in the tropics. To that end, the whole plant is fed to animals as silage, dried hay or dried seeds. M. pruriens silage contains 11-23% crude protein, 35-40% crude fiber, and the dried beans 20-35% crude protein. It also has use in the countries of Benin and Vietnam as a biological control for problematic Imperata cylindrica grass. M. pruriens is said to not be invasive outside its cultivated area.[5] However, the plant is known to be invasive within conservation areas of South Florida, where it frequently invades disturbed land and rockland hammock edge habitats.

Medical Research:
M. pruriens contains L-DOPA, a precursor to the neurotransmitter dopamine and formulations of the seed powder have been studied for the management and treatment of Parkinson’s disease.

In large amounts (e.g. 30 g dose), it has been shown to be as effective as pure levodopa/carbidopa in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, but no data on long-term efficacy and tolerability are available.

Known Hazards:
The plant is notorious for the extreme itchiness it produces on contact, particularly with the young foliage and the seed pods. It has value in agricultural and horticultural use and has a range of medicinal properties.

The hairs lining the seed pods and the small spicules on the leaves contain 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin) which cause severe itching (pruritus) when touched. The calyx below the flowers is also a source of itchy spicules and the stinging hairs on the outside of the seed pods are used in itching powder. Water should not be used if contact occurs, as it only dilutes the chemical. Also, one should avoid scratching the exposed area since this causes the hands to transfer the chemical to all other areas touched. Once this happens, one tends to scratch vigorously and uncontrollably and for this reason the local populace in northern Mozambique refer to the beans as the mad beans (feijões malucos). They use raw, unrefined moist tobacco to treat the itching. In India, the application of cow dung is very effective to treat the itching caused by the spicules of this herb.

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:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mucuna_pruriens
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/c/cowha111.html

 

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Categories
Herbs & Plants

Gillenia stipulata

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Botanical Name : Gillenia stipulata
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Gillenia
Species: G. stipulata
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Rosales

Synonym(s): Porteranthus stipulatus; spiraea stipulata, Porteranthus stipulatus. (Muhl. ex Willd.)Britt.

Common Name : American Ipecacuanna, American ipecac

Habitat : Gillenia stipulata   is native to  Eastern N. America – New York to Indiana and Kansas, south to Georgia, Louisiana and Oklahoma. It grows in woods, thickets and rocky slopes.

Description:
Gillenia stipulata is a  herbaceous, perennial  plant   growing to 1.2 m (4ft).  It is hardy to zone (UK) 5. It is in flower from May to June.  The stem  is erect, glabrous to pubescent, branching, multiple from base, sub-hollow, greenish to red above, from caudex, rhizomatous.. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects.

Leaves – Alternate, stipulate, short-petiolate, trifoliolate. Stipules large, foliaceous, serrate, ovate, +/-2.5cm long and broad, pubescent below, glabrous ir sparse pubescent above. Leaflets sessile, linear-lanceolate, to 9cm long, 2cm broad, serrate, pubescent below, sparse pubescent above, central leaflet slightly larger than lateral leaflets. Leaflets of lowest leaves pinnatifid.

CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES

Inflorescence – Axillary and terminal loose few-flowered panicles. Each divisions of inflorescence subtended by reduced foliaceous bract.

Flowers – Petals 5, white, acute to acuminate, 1.2cm long, 3-4mm broad, glabrous, oblong, clawed. Claw to 3mm long. Stamens 20, borne at edge of hypanthium, in two sets. Filaments white, glabrous, 2mm long. Anthers tan, 1mm in diameter. Pistils 5, distinct. Styles white, 3mm long, glabrous. Ovaries yellow-green, 1.9mm long. Hypanthium tube 5-6mm long, 3-4mm in diameter, greenish-white to reddish, truncate at base, glabrous. Sepals 5, acute, 1.1mm long, with some pubescence internally near apex. Follicles to 8mm long, glabrous, with +/-3 seeds.

A common name for this plant is “American Ipecac” because the plant had been used by natives as a laxative and emetic. This is not, however, the common Ipecac of modern medicine. Today’s Ipecac comes from Cephaelis ipecacuanha, a member of the Rubiaceae from South America.

Cultivation:
Easily grown in a rather moist but well-drained lime-free peaty soil in semi-shade. Succeeds in a sunny position but requires shade at the hottest part of the day.

Propagation:
Seed – sow spring or autumn in a cold frame. Prick out the seedlings when they are large enough to handle and grow on for the first year in a lightly shaded area of the greenhouse or cold frame. Plant out in late spring and protect from slugs until well established. Division in spring or autumn.
Medicinal Uses:
The dried powered root bark is cathatric, slightly diaphoretic,a mild and efficient  emetic,expectorant and tonic. Minute dosesare used internally in the treatment of colds, chronic diarrhea, constipation, asthma and other bronchial complications. The root have been used externally in the treatment of rhematism. A cold infution of the roots has been given , or the root   chewed  in the treatment of bee and insects stings.The roots are harvested in the autumn, the bark is removed and dried for later use. A tea made from the whole plant is strong laxative and emitic.Minute doses are used internally in the treatment of colds, indigestion, asthma and hepatitis.A poultice or wash is used in the treatment of rhematism,bee stings and swellings.A decoction or strong infution of the whole plant has been taken a pint at a time as an emitic.A poultice of the plant  has been used to treat leg swellings. The plant has been used in the treatment of toothaches.

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:

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/ornamentals/cornell_herbaceous/plant_pages/Gilleniastipulata.html

http://www.robsplants.com/plants/GilleStipu

http://www.missouriplants.com/Whitealt/Gillenia_stipulata_page.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gillenia_stipulata

http://www.herbnet.com/Herb%20Uses_IJK.htm

http://www.thealpinegarden.com/woodlandusa.htm

http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Gillenia+stipulata

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Categories
Positive thinking

Going Through The Opening

We can reach the vast opening of mental peace and happiness only after traveling through the dark tunnel of hardship of obstruction and sometimes despair.Many a time our lives contract before they expand. We may be working hard on ourselves spiritually, doing good in the world, following our dreams, and wondering why we are still facing constrictions of all kinds-financial, emotional, physical. Perhaps we even feel as if we’ve lost our spirituality and are stuck in a dark room with no windows. We may be confused and discouraged by what appears to be a lack of progress. But sometimes this is the way things work. Like a caterpillar that confines itself to a tiny cocoon before it grows wings and flies, we are experiencing the darkness before the dawn.

When things feel tight, it’s easy to panic or want to act in some way to ease the feeling of constriction. We might also spin our wheels mentally, trying to understand why things are the way they are. However, there is nothing we need to do at this time other than to be patient and persevering. We can cling to the awareness that we are processing the shift from one stage to another, and the more we surrender to the experience, the more quickly we will move through the tightness into the opening on the other side. Just like a baby making its way down the birth canal, we may feel squeezed and pushed and very uncomfortable, but if we remember that we are on our way to being born into a new reality, we will find the strength to carry on.

Even as we endure the contractions, we can find peace within ourselves if we remember to trust the universe. We can look to the natural world for inspiration as we see that all beings surrender to the process of being born. In that surrender, and in the center of our own hearts, is a willingness to trust in the unknown as we make our way through the opening.

Source:Daily Om

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