Baliospermum montanUm(Willd.) Mull. Arg.

B. axil/are BI.                                                                          

B. solanifolium (Burm.f.) Suresh = B. raziana Keshav. & Vogan.

 

EUPHORBIACEAE

 

Vernacular names:

Hindi               - Danti, Hakum

Kannada          - Kadu haralu, Nagadanti

Malayalam       - Nagadanthi

Marathi           - Danti, Hakum, Sapidi

Sanskrit          - Danti, Anukula, Nagadanti, Nikumbha

Tamil             - Pei amanakku, Neeradi muthu, Nagadanti

Telugu           - Kondamudam, Nelajidi, Kanaka para

 

Threat status:

Vulnerable (A 1 c,d) - KA & KL

Data Deficient - TN

 

Habit: Undershrubs

 

Habitat: Moist deciduous to semi-evergreen forests

 

Altitude: 100 - 850 m

 

Distribution: Global: Indo-Malaysia. National: Almost throughout the moist hilly regions from sub-Himalayan tract to Deccan peninsula. Regional: Fairly common as undergrowth in the disturbed moist forests of Karnataka and Kerala. No recent collections in Tamil Nadu, though earlier reported in the forests of Coimbatore.

 

Description: A stout undershrub, 1-2 m tall. Branchlets cylindrical, minutely tomentose, with vertical lines. Latex watery. Leaves alternate, simple or shallowly 3-lobed, broadly egg-shaped to elliptic lanceolate, 3-30 x 1.5-15 cm, base rounded or heart-shaped, apex acute to acuminate, margin entire or toothed with triangular teeth, minutely hairy, with a pair of glands at the base of the leaves; lateral nerves 3-5 starting from the base and with 7-8 other lateral nerves; leaf stalks up to 6 cm long, minutely hairy. Male and female flowers are separated, seen in the same flowering branch, minute, about 3 mm across, greenish yellow, arranged in axillary and terminal racemes, spikes or fascicles. Capsules distinctly 3-lobed, obovoid, stony, 8-13 mm across, minutely densely pubescent. Seeds egg-shaped.

 

Phenology: Flowering & Fruiting: November to February

 

Medicinal uses: Roots, seeds, leaves and seed oil are used to treat jaundice, constipation, piles, anemia, conjuctivitis. The roots are purgative, anthelmintic, carminative, rubefacient and anodyne. Used in abdominal pain, constipation, calculus, general anasarca, piles, helminthic infestation, scabies and skin disorders. Root paste is applied to painful swellings and piles. The leaves relieve asthma and seeds are used to cure snakebites.

 

Trade information: Local, regional and national. The roots are sold under the name Dantimool or Choti danti. Priced at Rs.40 to 55/Kg. (Market Studies, 1999-2000).

 

Mode of propagation: By stem cuttings and seeds

 

Special characters: The leaves are larger at the base and smaller towards the top. One important field character is the pair of glands at the basal portion of each leaf. Flowering spikes posses female flowers at the base and male flowers near the apex.