Family : Mimosaceae
Synonym(s) : Acacia suma, Acacia wallichiana, Acacia polyacantha
English Name : Catechu, Dark Catechu
Origin : India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand
Description
A tree reaching as high as 30 to 40 ft.; branches spreading, armed with strong black spines, downy toward the points. Leaves bipinnate, alternate, of from ten to eighteen pinnae; leaflets of pinnae thirty to fifty pairs, linear, auricled at the base, ciliated; petiole angular, grooved above, downy, with orbicular green glands between the bases of. the pinnae. Flowers in cylindrical, axillary spikes, on downy stalks, from four to five inches long, numerous, monopetalous, white or whitish yellow, and about twice as long as the tubular, hairy calyx. Stamens twice the length of the corolla, very numerous, distinct. Ovary glabrous, oval, on a very short stipe, terminating in a single style of the length of the stamens. Legume flat, linear, thin, straight, smooth, brown, pointed, about six inches long by three-fourths of an inch broad. Seeds six or eight, roundish.
Habitat
Forests of semi-dry parts of southern and central India, the subHimalayas and tropical Garhwal (Himalayas); including Assam and Myanmar (Burma), Afghanistan and Ceylon.
Parts Used : Fruit, root, leaf, wood and bark
Herb Effects
Alleviates spasms and antiviral (stem); antiinflammatory and hypoglycemic (wood); astringent (bark and heartwood); hypothermic. anthelmintic and antiseptic.
Active Ingredients
Acetaldehyde, fisetin, formaldehyde, gallic acid, isorhamnetin, kaempferol, procyanidin, quercetagetin, quercetin, quercitrin, rutin, tannin, taxifolin (plant).
Medicinal Use
Leprosy (root decoction. leaf. bark and fruit); in skin diseases and ulcers, chronic diarrhea, bleeding of the uterus and nose, mucosal discharges (such as leucorrhea) and hoarseness, gonorrhea (flowers), rheumatism and tooth ache (root), asthma, bronchitis, chest pain, sore in mouth (plant).
Dosage
Tincture: 1:5 in 45% alcohol, 2.5-5ml.
Dried extract: 0.3-2g or by infusion.
Contraindication
Do not take for more than two to three weeks at a time without a break.
Do not take if suffering from kidney inflammations.
Reference
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