Ichnocarpus frutescens R

Family : Apocynaceae

Synonym(s) : Apocymene frutescens L., Echites frutscens (L.) Roxb.

English Name : Black Creeper, Black Creeper, Sarsaparilla, Sariva, Kalisar, Dudhilata, Sugandhi, Honduras sarsaparilla, red sarsaparilla, Spanish sarsaparilla, Tu fu ling, Dwipautra.

Description

A large, evergreen, much-branched woody climber with rusty-tomentose branches. Leaves opposite, elliptic-oblong to broadly lanceolate, 2.5 to 10 cm long and 1.2 to 5 cm wide, coriaceous, softly tomentose beneath and glabrous above, pubescent when young, apex acute, base rounded or obtuse; petioles 0.3 to 0.8 cm long. Flowers fragrant, greenish-white or purplish, corolla lobes narrow, twisted and beared, borne in axillary or terminal panicles of cymose clusters. Fruits (follicles), cylindrical, slender, curved, usually paired, 10 to 15 cm long and 4 cm wide, rusty-pubescent at first, later glabrous. Seeds slender, white with a coma, 1.2 to 1.7 cm long.

Habitat

Sometimes grows on hedges; forests and tropical parts of India.

Parts Used : Leaf, root, stalk, plant and its aerial part.

Active Ingredients

Beta-sitosterol, friedelin, friedelinol, lupeol acetate and oleanolic acid (plant); amyrin glycoside (aerial part).

Medicinal Use

Syphilis, indigestion, skin diseases and as a blood purifier (root); reducing fever (root, leaf and stalk). The root powder, administered with milk, is used in the treatment of diabetes, gall bladder stones, and as a blood purifier. A decoction of the leaves and stalks, or of the roots and leaves is used to treat fevers.

Dosage

Infusion: Steep 1 tsp. rootstock in 1 cup water. Take 1 to 2 cups a day.
Tincture: A dose is from 30 to 60 drops.

Reference