Skip to main content

Bat plant (Tacca integrifolia)



Common Names:
  • in China: si xu ju ruo shu
  • in India: colbera, tagoon
  • in Indonesia: beting
  • Malay name: keladi murai

Scientific Names (Synonyms):

  • Ataccia aspera (Roxb.) Kunth
  • Ataccia cristata (Jack) Kunth
  • Ataccia integrifolia (Ker Gawl.) C.Presl
  • Ataccia laevis (Roxb.) Kunth
  • Ataccia lancifolia (Zoll. & Moritzi) Kunth
  • Tacca aspera Roxb.
  • Tacca choudhuriana Deb
  • Tacca cristata Jack
  • Tacca laevis Roxb.
  • Tacca lancifolia Zoll. & Moritzi
  • Tacca sumatrana H.Limpr.


Floral Description:
According to Flora of China:

  • Rhizomes subcylindric, thick.
  • Leaf blade oblong-lanceolate to oblong-elliptic, 50--55 × 18.5--21 cm, base cuneate, apex acuminate, sometimes caudate.
  • Scape ca. 55 cm; involucral bracts 4, outer 2 sessile, narrowly deltoid-ovate, inner 2 long petiolate, spatulate, thin.
  • Perianth purplish black; tube 1--2 cm; lobes 6, in 2 whorls, outer ones narrowly oblong, inner ones broadly obovate.
  • Filaments spatulate at apex. Style extremely short; stigma deeply 3-lobed.
  • Berry narrowly ellipsoid, 4--5 × ca. 2 cm, fleshy, 6-ridged, with persistent perianth lobes.
  • Seeds irregulaly ellipsoid-ovoid.


Pharmacological Actions

  • Tacca integrifolia tubers decoction mixed with honey and powdered bark of Shorea assamica taken for neck and body pain.
  • Caterpillar itch, pound the tuber and poultice.
  • Leaves applied to wounds or swelling.
  • Stem juice used in poison arrowheads.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Crown flower; Calotropis gigantea

Calotropis gigantea Common Names: in English : asclepiad tree, bowstring-hemp, crown flower, crown plant, giant Indian milkweed, giant milkweed, giant milky weed, gigantic swallow wort, madar, madar flower, milkweed, mudar in East Africa : mpumbula in China : niu jiao gua in India : aak, aakdo, aank, aarka, ab shir madar, aditya, aekka, aekka maale, aekki gida, ag, aharbandhava, aharmani, aharpati, ahauna, ahgaram, ak, aka, akado, akan, akanak, akanda, akaona, akarai, akari, akahua, akda, akda cha jhada, akda nu jhada, akdachajhada, akdamu-jhada, akdo, ake, akh, akh ke phool, akom, akom aring, akon, akona, akond, akond mul, akondo, akra, akro, akuan, alacikacceti, alacikam, alagar, alakam, alal, alark, alarka, alarkah, alarpal, amarkkam, ancolam, angkot, ank, arak arak mara, arakh, arakha, arakho gatch, arakkam, arakkanceti, arakkaparani, ariccunam, ark, arka, arka-gida, arka vrikshaha, arkagatch, arkah (= sun), arkamu, arkavrikshaha, arkkam, arkku, arkopat...

Indian birthwort : Aristolochia indica

Aristolochia indica Flora Description: Perennial herbs or shrubs, twining or prostrate, rarely erect. Leaves entire or lobed, 3-7-nerved with a usually dilated petiole, exstipulate but often with an undeveloped axillary stipule-like leaf (pseudostipule). Inflorescence solitary, axillary or in short fascicled racemes. Perianth zygomorphic or actinomorphic, coloured, tubular, tube inflated below, hairy inside, limb oblique, (1-)2 (-3)-lipped. Stamens (5-) 6 or multiples of these with sessile anthers. Ovary 5-6-celled; placentation parietal or axile; ovules many, anatropous, biseriate; style divided into 3,5 or 6 linear or obtuse lobes. Seeds ± compressed, usually winged all around. Medicinal Properties and Uses: Crushed vegetative parts applied externally for snakebites. Leaf paste applied on boils, wounds, snakebites.  Fresh or dried leaves chewed and swallowed for asthma.  Leaf decoction febrifuge, antibacterial, antimicrobial, antifungal,...

Chinese date, Chinese jujube, common jujube, cottony jujube, geb, governor plum, Indian jujube, Indian plum, Ziziphus mauritiana

Ziziphus mauritiana is a major commercial fruit-producing species in India with many cultivars varying in fruiting season and in fruit form, size, color, flavor, and keeping quality. The fruit is rich in vitamin C and is eaten raw, pickled, or used in beverages. The hard, fine wood is used in making furniture; the bark is used medicinally. The leaves contain tannin used for producing tannin extract. This is an important host tree for the parasitic scale insect, Laccifer lacca . Ziziphus mauritiana showed significant effects on antiinflammatory, cytoprotective, antiallergic, antiulcer activity, wound healing, antiobesity, antidiarrhoeal and anti-diabetic activity. The leaves also possess immunostimulant and cardiovascular properties. Ziziphus mauritiana plant contains flavonoids, alkaloids, cardiac glycosides, saponins, resins, polyphenols, mucilage and vitanins. The fruits are good source of vitamin C, sugars and contain various ...