Sunday, February 15, 2009

Desmostachya bipinnata (L.) Stapf


English Name : Haifa grass, Serpents' tongues, Sacred creeping grss, Sacrificial grass

Family : Poaceae

Origin : South-East Asia

Description
A tufted perennial grass with a thick scaly root-stock which sends out creeping rhizomes in all directions. Leaves coarse. Spikelets sessile or subsessile along the rachis of short spikes which form a narrow spike-like panicle, many-flowered, strongly laterally compressed; glumes markedly unequal, 1-nerved.

Habitat
Occurs on the edges of rice fields, in rock crevices, in savanna or scrub land, up to 200 m altitude.

Parts Used : Culm and root

Herb Effects
Diuretic, emollient, astringent and galactagogue (root); diuretic, stimulant, acrid and aphrodisiac (culm)

Medicinal Use
Used against dysentery, menorrhagia, bleeding disorders such as hemorrhoids, purpura etc., jaundice, asthma, strangury and skin eruptions (culm); in hyperdipsia, asthma and jaundice (roots).

Reference

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