Phyla nodiflora (L.)
CLASSIFICATION
| ORDER | : Lamiales |
| FAMILY | : Verbanaceae |
| GENUS | : Phyla Lour. |
| SPECIES | : nodiflora (L.) |
| BOTANICAL NAME | : Phyla nodiflora (L.) Greene |
| SYNONYMS | : Lippa nodiflora (L.) Michx |
| COMMON NAME | : Frog Fruit, Turkey Tangle, Creeping Lip Plant |
| TAMIL NAME | : potutalai |
| HINDI NAME | : chota okra, jal buti. |
PLANT DESCRIPTION
| HABIT : Herb. |
| HABIT : A small, perennial herb with stems creeping and rooting at nodes, more or less square and hairy. |
| LEAVES : Small, opposite, spathulate, base cuneate, apex rounded, upper part deeply serrate, hairy. |
| INFLORESCENCE : Axillary globose heads which later on elongate and become spicate. |
| FLOWERS : Closed, bracteates, bracts elliptic or obovate. Calyx deeply bilabiate, compressed, hairy. Corolla white pale-blue, bilabiate, upper lip erect, bifid, the lower 3-lobed, the central lobe the largest. Stamens 4, didynamous, included. Ovary 2-celled, ovules 2, stigma oblique. |
| FRUITS : Drupe dry, splitting into 2, 1-seeded pyrenes. |
| FLOWERING AND FRUITING TIME : Throughout the year. |
MEDICINAL USES
| The plant is anodyne, antibacterial, deobstruent, diuretic, emmenagogue, parasiticide and refrigerant. |
| It is used in the treatment of hookworm. |
| The juice of the plant is cooling and is used to relieve fevers, coughs and colds. |
| The aroma of the inhaled plant is breathed in to treat coughs and colds. |
| The juice of the root is used in the treatment of gastric troubles. |
IMAGES
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