Indian birthwort
Scientific name
Aristolochia indica L.
English Name
Indian birthwort
Malayalam name
ഗരുഡകോടി, ഈശ്വരമൂലി
Common name
Garudakodi
Description
- Habit : Climber
- Habitat : Deciduous forests,also in the plains
- Leaves : ovate-lanceolate,apex acute
- Flowers : greyish-green,few-flowered,axillary racemes
- Seeds : broadly deltoid,flat,winged
How to use
- The decoction of root is used for the treatment of fever.
- The fresh root crushed with tumeric is used in scorpion bite,insect bite.
- The leaf juice and paste is applied over the wounds and swelling
Uses
Anti-venomous and antipyretic
Parts used
Root and leaves
Conservation
Propagation & Cultivation
It is propagated through seeds. Seeds mature during May–July with about 80% germination and 70–80% viability for up to a year; they are sown in rows 10 cm apart on raised beds, treated with Bavistin, Captan, or Thiram before sowing, and seedlings at the 4–5 leaf stage are either shifted to poly bags or retained in nursery beds until 15 cm tall for transplantation, with about 30,000 seedlings required per hectare.