Aerva lanata in Bhongir AP W I2 IMG 3064

''Ouret lanata'' (

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

''Aerva lanata''), the mountain knotgrass, is a woody, prostrate or

succulent In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

herb Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typically distingu ...

in the family

Amaranthaceae Amaranthaceae ( ) is a family of flowering plants commonly known as the amaranth family, in reference to its type genus '' Amaranthus''. It includes the former goosefoot family Chenopodiaceae and contains about 165 genera and 2,040 species, maki ...

, native to the tropics of Africa and Asia. It has been included as occurring in Australia by the US government, but it is not recognised as occurring in Australia by any Australian state herbarium or

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

. The plant sometimes flowers in the first year. ''Ouret lanata'' is a common weed which grows wild everywhere in the plains of India. The root has a

camphor Camphor () is a waxy, colorless solid with a strong aroma. It is classified as a terpenoid and a cyclic ketone. It is found in the wood of the camphor laurel (''Cinnamomum camphora''), a large evergreen tree found in East Asia; and in the kapu ...

-like aroma. The dried flowers which look like soft spikes, are sold under the commercial names Buikallan and Boor. It is one of the plants included in

Dasapushpam ''Dasapushpam'' ("''dasha''" meaning ten in Sanskrit and "''pushpam''" meaning flowers), or the ten sacred flowers of Kerala, are ten herbs traditionally significant to Keralites, the people of Kerala, India. These herbs are found almost everywh ...

, the ten sacred flowers of

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

Description

Mountain knotgrass is an annual with a branching, somewhat woody root system. The stems are mostly straggling and sprawling and spread widely, sometimes as much as in length. The often stalkless leaves are alternate, oval and long. They grow from whitish papery stipules with two lobes and red bases. The tiny clusters of two or three flowers grow in the leaf axils. The flowers are about long, pink, green or dull white. The flowers are normally self-pollinated. Flowering time is from May to October.

Distribution and habitat

''Ouret lanata'' is native to tropical Africa, Madagascar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, the Indian subcontinent, Vietnam, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, the Philippines, and New Guinea. The species prefers damper sites than ''

Aerva javanica ''Aerva javanica'', the kapok bush or desert cotton, is a species of plant in the family Amaranthaceae. It has a native distribution incorporating much of Africa (including Madagascar), and the south-west and south of Asia, and it has become adve ...

'' and can be found in open forests on mountain slopes, on waste and

disturbed ground In ecology, a disturbance is a change in environmental conditions that causes a pronounced change in an ecosystem. Disturbances often act quickly and with great effect, to alter the physical structure or arrangement of biotic and abiotic element ...

, deserted cultivation and coastal scrub and at elevations from sea level to . It is a common weed in arable fields and bare patches of ground.

Uses

This plant is used for food for people and animals. The whole plant, especially the leaves, is edible. The leaves are put into soup or eaten as a spinach or as a vegetable. The plant provides grazing for stock, game and chickens. The plant is used as a traditional medicine for snakebites. Though the plant has a lot of medicinal properties it is quite commonly used in South India during the Tamil festival "Pongal" and Telugu harvest festival "Sankranti" as the flower of this plant is used for decoration. In Telugu language it is also called as "Pindi kommalu" and in

Tamil language Tamil (, , , also written as ''Tamizhil'' according to linguistic pronunciation) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. It is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world,. "Tamil is one of ...

it is also called as Ponga-Poo, which is derived from the names Pongal – A Harvest festival of Tamil Nadu and Poo in Tamil means Flower. Other common Tamil names used for this plant are "Kannu Pillai Poo" and "Siru Poolai

The plant is also used as a

talisman A talisman is any object ascribed with religious or magical powers intended to protect, heal, or harm individuals for whom they are made. Talismans are often portable objects carried on someone in a variety of ways, but can also be installed perm ...

against evil spirits, a good-luck talisman for hunters, and a talisman for the well-being of widows. In the traditional medicine of India, the juice of crushed ''Ouret lanata'' root is used for

jaundice Jaundice, also known as icterus, is a yellowish or, less frequently, greenish pigmentation of the skin and sclera due to high bilirubin levels. Jaundice in adults is typically a sign indicating the presence of underlying diseases involving ...

therapy.Tewari D, Mocan A, Parvanov ED, Sah AN, Nabavi SM, Huminiecki L, Ma ZF, Lee YY, Horbańczuk JO, Atanasov AG
Ethnopharmacological Approaches for Therapy of Jaundice: Part I.
Front Pharmacol. 2017 Aug 15;8:518
doi: 10.3389/fphar.2017.00518

References

External links

* {{Authority control Amaranthaceae Flora of East Tropical Africa Flora of Northeast Tropical Africa Flora of South Tropical Africa Flora of South Africa Flora of West Tropical Africa Flora of West-Central Tropical Africa Flora of the Western Indian Ocean Flora of the Arabian Peninsula Flora of the Indian subcontinent Flora of Vietnam Flora of Java Flora of New Guinea Flora of Peninsular Malaysia Flora of the Philippines Flora of Sumatra Leaf vegetables Plants used in traditional African medicine Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus