Michelia champaca L.

English Name : Champak

Family : Magnoliaceae

Origin : India

Description

It is a large, graceful and evergreen tree with dark grey bark. Leaves are acuminate, lanceolate, coriaceous, entire, glabrous, dark green and shining above. The flowers are pale-yellow with a strong odour, solitary, axillary, bracteate and 2.5 to 5.0 cm in diameter. The sepals and petals are 15 to 21. Stamens are numerous, free and the carpels are densely packed on a sessile gynophore. The fruits are 7.5 to 10.0 cm long. Seeds are brown and 1 to 4 in each fruit.

Habitat
Lower hills of Assam hilly areas of southern India and the eastern Himalayas.

Parts Used : Root, bark, fruit and flower

Herb Effects
Febrifuge, stimulant, astringent, expectorant (bark); purgative and emmenagogue (root and root bark); stimulant, antispasmodic, tonic, stomachic, carminative, bitter and cooling (flowers and fruits).

Active Ingredients
Micheliolide, parthenolide and costunolide (root bark); liriodenine (root and stem bark).

Medicinal Use
For indigestion, boils, itching, nausea and fever (fruit and flower); as an abortifacient (bark). ; roots and are applied to abscesses; in dyspepsia, nausea and fever (infusion of flower); in vertigo and useful in cephalagia, opthalmia, gout and rheumatism (flower oil); for healing cracks in feet (seeds and fruits).

Contraindication
Avoid using oil during pregnancy.

Reference