Chinese Wedelia
From DrugPedia: A Wikipedia for Drug discovery
Common name: Chinese Wedelia • Hindi: पीला भंगरा Pilabhangara, Bhanra • Marathi: पिवला भंगरा Pivala-Bhangra • Tamil: Manjalkarilamkanni, Patalai kayyantakarai • Malayalam: Mannakkannunni • Telugu: Guntagalagara • Kannada: Gargari, Kalsarji • Bengali: Bhimra • Konkani: Birimgarsi • Sanskrit: पीतभ्रंग Pitabhrnga, Pitabhrngarajah
Botanical name: Wedelia chinensis
Family: Asteraceae (Sunflower family) Synonyms: Solidago chinensis
Chinese Wedelia is a tender, spreading, and hairy herb, with the branches usually less than 50 cm long. The leaves are oblong to oblong-lanceolate, 2-4.5 cm in length, and narrowed at both ends. The margins are entire or obscurely toothed; and both surfaces are covered with sharp-pointed, appressed, straight, and stiff hairs. The heads are stalked, about 1 cm in diameter, and yellow. The involucral bracts are oblong-ovate. The ray flowers are 8-12, spreading, about equal to the bracts, and broad; the disk flowers number about 20, and are short, narrow, and pointed. The achenes are nearly cylindric, and hairy.
Medicinal uses: The leaves are used in dyeing grey hair and in promoting the growth of hair. They are considered tonic, alternative, and useful in coughs, cephalalgia, skin diseases, and alopecia. The juice of the leaves is much used as a snuff in cephalalgia. The seeds and flowers, as well as the leaves, are used in decoction, in the quantity of half of teacupful twice daily, as a deobstruent. In decoction, the plant is used in uterine haemorrhage and menorrhagia.
