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CLASSIFICATION

ORDER	: Caryophyllales
FAMILY	: Amaranthaceae
GENUS	: Achyranthes L.
SPECIES	: aspera L.
BOTANICAL NAME	: Achyranthes aspera L.
SYNONYMS	: ---
COMMON NAME	: Prickly chaff flower.
TAMIL NAME	: Akatam.
HINDI NAME	: Ulta kanta.

PLANT DESCRIPTION

HABIT :  A wild, perennial, erect herb.

STEM :  Herbaceous but woody below, erect, branched, cylindrical, solid, angular, hairy, longitudinally striated, nodes and internodes are prominent, green but violet or pink at nodes.

LEAVES :  Ramal and cauline, simple, exstipulate, opposite decussate, petiolate, ovate or obovate, entire, acute or acuminate, hairy all over, unicostate reticulate.

INFLORESCENCE :  A spike with reflexed flowers arranged on long peduncle.

FLOWERS :  Bracteate, bracteolate, bracteoles two, shorter than perianth, dry, membranous persistent, sessile, complete, hermaphrodite, actinomorphic, pentamerous, hypogynous, small, spinescent, green. Bracts ovate, persistent, awned. Perianth made up of 5 tepals, polyphyllous, imbricate or quincuncial, green, ovate to oblong, persistent. Androecium made up of 10 stamens, out of which 5 are fertile and 5 are scale-like, fimbriated, sterile staminodes, both alternating with each other, fertile stamens are antiphyllous,monadelphous, filaments slightly fused at the base, dithecous, dorsifixed or versatile, introrse. Gynoecium is bicarpellary, syncarpous, superior, unilocular, ovule one, basal placentation, style single and filiform, stigma capitate.

FRUITS :  Oblong utricle

SEEDS :  Endospermic with curved embryo, 2 mm long, oblong black.

FLOWERING AND FRUITING TIME :  September to April

MEDICINAL USES

In Western India the juice is applied to relieve toothache.

The ashes with honey are given to relieve cough; the root in dosed of one tola is given at bedtime for night blindness, and rubbed into a paste with water it is used as an anjan (eye salve) in opacities of the cornea.

IMAGES

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