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CLASSIFICATION

ORDER	: Lamiales
FAMILY	: Acanthaceae
GENUS	: Andrographis Wall. ex Nees
SPECIES	: Andrographis echioides (L.) Nees
BOTANICAL NAME	: Andrographis echioides (L.) Nees
SYNONYMS	: ---
COMMON NAME	: Bugloss Chiretta.
TAMIL NAME	: Kopuramtanki
HINDI NAME	: ---

PLANT DESCRIPTION

HABIT :  It is an erect, annual herb and 30-90 cm tall with upper part of stem quadrangular while the lower part nearly rounded stem.

LEAVES :  Leaves are opposite sessile or subsessile, linear-lanceolateor lanceolate, 3-8 cm long, acute, glabrous or minutely puberulous beneath and base cuneate, margin slightly undulate.

FLOWERS :  Flowers are pedicelled, biliped, white-purple or spotted purple and solitary. Pedicel is 2.5–10 mm in size, slender and glandular pubescent. Bracts are acicular and 2.5 mm long. Calyx lobes are subacute, 2.5-3.7 mm long and glandular. Corolla is 7.5-12.5 mm in size, tube about half as long as the corolla. Filaments are hairy and anthers are purple beared at base.

FRUIT :  Fruit is a capsule, oblong, 18-20X4.5–5.0 mm, young ones sparsely glandular and hairy; when mature it is glabrous. Seeds are subquadrate, yellow to brownish in colour and rugose.

FLOWERING AND FRUITING TIME :  October – December (North India).

MEDICINAL USES

In traditional Indian medicine, several Andrographis species have been used in the treatment of dyspepsia, influenza, malaria and respiratory infections, and as astringent and antidote for poisonous stings of some insects.

This plant is traditionally used for the treatment of common cold, diarrhoea, fever due to several infective cause, jaundice, as a health tonic for the liver and cardiovascular health, and as an antioxidant.

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