Woodfordia fruticosa(L.) Kurz

Family : Lythraceae

Synonym(s) : Woodfordia floribunda Salib.

English Name : Fire Flame Bush

Description

A much-branched shrub, with fluted stems and long, spreading branches, 1 to 3 m. high, rarely up to 7 m., Bark reddish brown, peeling off in thin, fibrous strips; leaves lanceolate, oblong-lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate; flowers numerous, brilliant red in dense axillary paniculate-cymose clusters; capsules ellipsoid, membranous; seeds brown, minute, smooth obovate.

Habitat
Garhwal (Himalayas) (up to 1500 m) and forests of India.

Parts Used : Flower, leaf, stem, shoot, plant and its bark

Herb Effects

Stimulant (in pregnancy), astringent and abortifacient (flower), antibiotic (shoot), stimulant (plant-low dose), depressant (plant-high dose), stimulates the bowel (plant extract), antipyretic.

Active Ingredients

Anthocyanins, hecogenin, kaempferol and mesoinositol (flower), polyphenols (flower and leaf), octacosanol and beta-sitosterol (stem), C-glucoside (bark).

Medicinal Use

In sores, ulcers, problems with mucous membranes of the body, hemorrhages, seminal weakness, menorrhagia, as a tonic, stimulant (in pregnancy) and astringent (flower), bowel disorders (including dysentery) (plant and flower), to treat thirst, toothache, bleeding, anorexia, diarrhoea, dysentery, leucorrhoea, amenorrhoea and herpes.

Reference