95
Justicia
adhatoda L.
Synonym : Adhatoda vasica Nees
Family
: Acanthaceae
Local Names
: Aadalodakam, Vasa, Vasaka,
Malabar nut
Flowering
and fruiting period:
Throughout the year
Distribution: Indo-Malaysia
Habitat: In the plains, often planted
IUCN
status:
Data Deficient
Endemic: No
Uses: The plant has been used in India as folk
medicine for over 200 years. The decoction of the leaves, flowers, fruits and
roots are used for treating cold, cough, whooping cough, chronic bronchitis and
asthma. Studies have also shown the plant to be effective in the treatment of
dyspepsia and pyorrhea.
Key
Characters:
Evergreen, much-branched perennial
shrubs with a strong, odour. Leaves simple, opposite, elliptic-lanceolate,
margins entire. Flowers in compact, axillary, pedunculate spikes. Calyx lobes
oblong-lanceolate, 3-nerved. Corolla white with red or yellow-barred throats.
Stamens 2, anther cells not tailed; filaments hary at the base.
