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Herbs & Plants

Palutan

Botanical Name :Flacourtia indica (Burm. f.) Merr.
Family: Flacourtiaceae
Genus: Flacourtia
Species: F. indica
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Violales

Other Scientific Names : Gmelina indica Burm. f.,Mespilus sylvestris Burm.,Flacourtia sepiaria Roxb.,Flacourtia ranibtcgu L’ Herit. ,Myroxylon decline Blanco ,Flacourtia cataphracta Rolfe

Common Names :  Bitangol (Sbl.),Bitunogo (Tag.),Bolong (Mang.), Palutan (Ibn.), Saua-saua (Bis.),Many spiked Flacourtia (Engl.)

Habitat : Palutan is found in dry thickets at low altitude in Cagayan, Isabela, Zambales, Tarlac, Bataan, Rizal, and Batangas Provinces in Luzon; and in Mindoro. It also occurs in India to tropical Africa and Malaya.

Description:
The plant is an erect, branched, more or less spiny shrub of small tree, growing to a height of 3 meters. Spines are slender and scattered, up to 2 cm long. Leaves are obovate to oblong-ovate, 2.5 to 5 cm long, with toothed margins and rounded lobes, the based pointed with the tip rounded. Flowers are white, about 5 mm in diameter, borne on axillary or terminating short branchlets, solitary or in pairs. Fruit is rounded, about 1 cm in diameter, fleshy when fresh, smooth and purple or nearly black. The pulp is edible, fleshy and sweet, enclosing 6 to 10 small and flattened seeds.

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Edible Uses: In India, fruits consumed as food by local people.

Medicinal Uses:
Parts Used: Bark and leaves.

Properties:
*Bark is astringent.
*Dried leaves considered carminative, expectorant, tonic and astringent.

Folkloric
*Infusion of the bark used for hoarseness and as a gargle.

*In Madagascar, the bark is titurated in oil and used as a rheumatic liniment.

*The ashes of the roots are used for kidney ailments.

*Dried leaves are used in asthma, bronchitis, phthisis and catarrh of the bladder.

*Juice of fresh leaves and tender stalks used for fevers.

*As an antiperiodic for infants, 5 to 10 drops are placed in water or in mother’s milk.

*Also used in phthisical coughs, dysentery, diarrhea and indigestion during dentition.

*In Bengal, used as a tonic during parturition.

*The fruit is used for bilious disorders and to relieve nausea and vomiting.

*In India, used as an antiviral.

*In Sabah, roots used for headaches, leaves for colic.

*In Tanzania, fruit used for jaundice and enlarged spleens; leaves and roots for schistosomiasis, malaria and diarrhea. Also, the roots are used for hoarseness, pneumonia, intestinal worms; and as astringent, diuretic and analgesic.

Studies :-
Hepatoprotective / Paracetamol-Induced Hepatotoxicity: Study of extracts of aerial parts of F indica in paracetamol-induced hepatic necrosis in rat models exhibited hepatoprotective effects probably mediated through the inhibition of the microsomal metabolizing enzymes.
• Hepatoprotective / CCL4-Induced Hepatotoxicity: Study results conclude that aqueous extract of leaves of F indica protects the liver against oxidative damages and can be used as an effective protector against CCl4-induced hepatic damage.
• Antimalarial: Study reports on the antiplasmodial activity of the AcOEt extract and three major constituents of Flacourtia indica.

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://www.stuartxchange.com/Palutan.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flacourtia_indica

Click to access palutan.pdf

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Categories
Herbs & Plants

Banyan

Botanical Name: Ficus benghalensis
Family:    Moraceae
Genus:    Ficus
Species:F. benghalensis
Kingdom:Plantae
Order:Rosales

Common Names:  Indian banyan ‘Bengal fig’ and ‘Indian fig’. In Bengali it called Bot language, it is known as bat. In Tamil, it is known as aalamaram. In Telugu, it is known as marrichettu. Sanskrit names include nyagrodha and vata. In Kannada it is known as aalada mara. In Malayalam it is known as aalmaram or Peraal and in Punjabi It is known as “bodha”

Habitat :Banyan tree is native to  India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, but has been imported in other tropical regions. It is also the national tree of India. The first banyan tree in the U.S. was planted by Thomas Alva Edison in Fort Myers, Florida. It was given to Edison by Harvey Firestone after Firestone visited India in 1925 and was planted in the Edison and Ford Winter Estates. The tree, originally only 4 feet tall, now covers 400 feet.

Description:
Banyan tree is     a evergreen tree with spreading, often horizontal branches supported by prop roots. Bears elliptic to broadly ovate, leathery, deep green leaves, flushed bronze when young and with a distinct pattern of pale veins when mature. Spherical red figs are borne in pairs.It can grow 20 to 30m, the foilage color is dark green.

They are large trees that usually start life as a seedling growing on another tree (or on structures like buildings and bridges), where a fig-eating bird has deposited the seed. The roots descend over the trunk of the host, seeking out the soil below. Once they have rooted into this, the fig roots rapidly thicken and lignify (become wooden). Where the fig roots cross each other they fuse, thus creating a lattice around the host tree trunk. The fig competes with its host for light, water and nutrients, while its roots prevent the host trunk from growing. Eventually the host dies and rots away, leaving the fig self supporting as an ordinary tree, but with a tubular lattice of lignified roots instead of a trunk. For this reason banyans are often referred to as strangler figs.....click & see

Another unusual feature of the banyan is its ability to produce adventitious roots from the branches. This characteristic of developing aerial roots allows a single tree to spread over a large area. One famous banyan tree was planted in 1873 in Lahaina’s Courthouse Square in Hawai’i, and has grown to now cover two-thirds of an acre.

Like other members of this genus (which includes the common edible fig Ficus carica), banyans have a unique fruit and insect mediated fertilization process.

List of species:     The Indian Banyan (Ficus benghalensis) can grow into a giant tree covering several hectares. The Great Banyan in the Indian Botanic Garden, Howrah, is reckoned to be the largest tree in the world.

The Chinese Banyan (Ficus microcarpa), also known as the Malayan Banyan is native from Ceylon to India, southern China, the Malay Archipelago, the Ryukyu Islands, Australia, and New Caledonia.
The Central American Banyan (Ficus pertusa) is native to Central America and northern South America, from southern Mexico south to Paraguay.

Medicinal  Uses:

The banyan has many medical qualities. It is used in the traditional medicine for the treatment of several ailments.

Skin disorders: The banyan fruit exercises a soothing effect on the skin and mucous membrances and alleviates pain and swelling. It serves as a mild purgative too.

Arresting bleeding: The bark and the leaf bus of the banyan tree is very useful in preventing bleeding.

Diabetes: An infusion of the bark is a specific medicine for diabetes.

Vomiting: The tender ends of the aerial root can be taken in obstinate vomiting.

Dysentery & Chronic Diarhhoea: The leaf buds of the banyan tree are beneficial in thr treatment dysentery and chronic diarhhoea.

Luocorrhoea: A regular douching of genital tract with a decoction of the bark of the banyan tree and the fig tree is very helpful in lucorrhoea.

Rheumatic pain: The latex is commonly used locally for rheumatic pain and lumbago.A few drops of latex of the banyan tree mixed with milk is beneficial to cure bleeding piles.

KibesThe cracking of heels : To deal with the problem it is useful to fill the cracks with the sap of banyan tree.

Female Sterility: Tender roots of banyan tree are considered beneficial in the treatment of female sterility.A hot polutice of the banyan leaves can be applied with beneficial to abscesses to promote suppuration and to hasten their breaking.

Warts: The milky juice from the fresh green banyan leaves is useful to destroy warts.

Ulcers: The latex of the banyan tree is commonly used locally for ulcers,bruises and sores.

Teeth Disorders: Cleaning the teeth with the arial roots of the banyan tree is beneficial in preventing teeth and gum disorders.

Leaves of banyan tree yield ficusin and bergaptene . Latex of the tree is very much toxic

Other Uses:
Banyan tree is the National tree of the Republic of India.It’s huge spreaded structures gives shade to birds & graging cattles,the fruit is eaten by birds & squirrels,leaves are eaten by goats & cows..

Known Hazards:  The foliage and milky sap of all figs can sometimes be an irritant to skin and eyes for especially sensitive people, but most people are not effected.

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

Resources:   Help taken from :en.wikipedia.org and book named miracles of herbs

http://mobile.floridata.com/Plants/Moraceae/Ficus%20benghalensis/802

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