|
Worthy Weeds - Nature's
Healers
Usha Srinivasan
T he
plants that grow along with grass, in the vegetable and flower
patches, are dug up and thrown (weeded) away so that they don’t take
away the water and nutrients from the "useful" plants are called
Weeds – the useless plants! But these weeds are a treasure house
of medicines for many small ailments like headache and killer
diseases like cancer.
In more
than a billion years of evolution, these plants have developed
countless chemicals that help them ward off microbes such as
bacteria, fungi, virus etc. These countless chemical combinations
also provide protection to the plants from insects and herbivores.
"Most of the man-made drugs have only one active ingredient, but
nature provides the cure-all drugs in plants", as per Dr.Swerdlow -
a professor and researcher.
Let us
explore our gardens and roadsides for these valuable weeds!
Phyllanthus amarus (Sanskrit: Bhumyamalaki) is a weed found
in most of our gardens. The whole plant has medicinal uses and is
the chief source of many of the Ayurvedic liver tonics. It is
extremely effective in the treatment of jaundice. The two most
important traditional uses are:
|
a) |
Its action on
kidney stones |
|
b) |
Its effect on liver
diseases
|
|
How do we identify
it? |
| 8 |
It is a shrub which
grows to a height of about 0.5 to one meter. |
|
8 |
Its leaves are
elliptical (oval) and look like compound leaves, but are not.
|
|
8 |
It has little, thin
and symmetric branches. |
|
8 |
If you look closely,
you can see a flower and the fruit at the angle of each little
leaf of the branch. |
|
8 |
The flowers are
small, with whitish or yellowish sepals and a green stripe along
its length |
|
8 |
Fruits are like
capsules, globular and flattened 2 to 3 mm in diameter, each one
carrying two or three seeds |
|
The
Recipe
Grind the leaves to a paste, make a small marble size dose and
swallow it. As it is very bitter, have some sweetened milk or
honey! Six doses (two a day) of this should cure you of
jaundice.
Solanum nigrum (Sanskrit: Kakamachi) is an annual
herb found in gardens and road side pavements. Its leaves,
flowers and fruits are medicinal in nature and has some of the
essential minerals and vitamins like Calcium, Phosphorus, Iron,
Riboflavin, Niacin and vitamin C.
How
do you identify this plant? |
|
8 |
Leaves are ovate,
toothed along its edges and help to identify the plant |
|
8 |
Flowers are Small,
in clusters of 3-8 flowers, the sepal divided more than half way
into five oblong lobes |
|
8 |
Fruits are in the
form of berries, 6 mm in diameter, usually purplish black
(sometimes red or yellow), smooth and shining |
|
The
Recipe
Grind the leaves to get the juice, which is a cure for jaundice,
mouth and stomach ulcers. The leaves can be cooked the same way
as spinach and eaten as curry (take care not to throw the water
used for cooking the leaves).
 |
|
1. Solanum nigrum
2. Phyllanthus amarus
3. Eclipta prostrata
4. Acalypha indica
5. Aloe vera |
Eclipta prostrata
(Sanskrit: Bhringaraja) is a hardy annual. It has
luxuriant dark green foliage with small white flowers. It is
non-invasive and very well mannered! The plant grows to two
feet. An extract of the fresh herb is said to promote hair
growth when applied to the scalp. Other home remedies are for
blurred vision, headache and premature gray hair. It is a
valuable herb for not only the traditional healers but also for
the farmers. For treatment of many common diseases, the
traditional healers and natives use this herb very frequently.
The traditional healers of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, use all
parts of Bhengra to prepare medicines. It is used both
internally and externally, alone or in combination with other
herbs. A mixture of Bhengra leaves, flowers and Hibiscus leaves
and flowers is used to dye the hair black. It is a safe and
natural herbal hair dye! The preparation, in which fresh Bhengra
juice is boiled in oil, is also useful for the treatment of
Safed Dag (Leucoderma).
How
to identify the plant? |
|
8 |
Leaves are opposite,
elliptic or spear shaped, slightly thickened, approximately 1
1/4 to 5 inches long and up to 1 1/4 inches wide, with short,
soft hairs on both surfaces. |
|
8 |
Leaf margins have
widely spaced teeth. Initially the stem is green, which turns
reddish brown. |
|
8 |
It branches freely
and is capable of rooting at the nodes. |
|
Flowers are rounded and consist of small, white flowers
surrounding greenish disk flowers. They occur alone or in
clusters of 2-3 on small stalks at the end of stems or in leaf
axils.
The
Recipe
Grind the leaves
coarsely and boil in coconut oil. Filter and store. Massage this
oil on the scalp as hair tonic.
Aloe vera
(Sanskrit: Ghritakumari) It is a succulent perennial herb
and grows without much water or care. It is used for curing a
host of diseases connected with digestive system, wounds, burns,
skin troubles, antibacterial and antifungal actions.
How
to identify the plant? |
|
8 |
The leaves are
rosettely arranged, very fleshy, green in colour and covered
with rounded specks and a prickly edges. |
|
8 |
The plant does not
have a stem; the leaf sheath is tubular in form, acting as a
pseudo stem. |
|
8 |
The flower stalk
grows up to a height of 1 m which then terminates in an
elongated cluster of flowers. The flowers are down-pointed and
are yellow, orange or red |
|
The Recipe |
|
8 |
You can get the pulp
by cutting the leaves. For treating burns, the pulp is applied
on the affected area. The flesh can also be used as a face
cleanser and hair tonic |
|
8 |
Two pinches of leaf
pulp powder mixed with equal quantity of turmeric powder
dissolved in ˝ cup of water is a cure for constipation. |
|
8 |
For treating wounds,
sprinkle turmeric powder on the pulp and place it on the wound
and bandage it |
Acalypha indica
(Sanskrit: Arittamanjarie)
The leaves are used for
treating vomiting, bronchitis, pneumonia and asthma. It is
also used to treat cold and cough and for killing intestinal worms.
The
leaves are used as food, the same way as saag (or leafy green
vegetable). It is also used for sprouting paddy faster and also
to make them pest resistant (especially the red spot disease).
There
is an old saying that: "The plants you need most grow out of your
back door." To discover the healing ways of plants, we need to begin
with personal interactions and experimentations. So, start with the
ones in your backyard, get to know them and begin to use them. It is
a bit of magic you can only feel from experience!
q
Acknowledgement:
Source for information on some medicinal plants in the article is:
http://botanical.com/site/column_poudhia/65_bhengra.html
|
Video Resource Centre
at Development Alternatives
D evelopment
Alternatives (DA) became a VRC in January 1994. A video
library was
set up where people could access films on different issues of
sustainable development.
DA’s VRC has an
extensive collection of high quality TV and video programmes
on environment and development issues. Besides generating
awareness, this effort is also aimed at creating a better
understanding of key environmental issues among the public and
help bring about a change in people’s attitudes. These films
not only highlight the global environmental crisis, but also
bring to the fore the pioneering work and experiments carried
out by our counterparts in various countries in facing the
environmental degradation challenge.
To make the information
on this collection accessible to all users, two catalogues
have been published containing information about the films -
the title, length, summary etc. and the cost of the film on
VHS format. An order form is attached to the catalogue. The
orders are dealt with through mail and over-the-counter sales
at DA Headquarters.
Besides duplicating and
distributing films on a non-profit basis, DA VRC is also
engaged in dubbing films of foreign language into local
language versions. DA also offers its services as a film
production unit to other actors in the field of environment
and development.
For
more information, please write to:
Sanjeev Kumar
DAINET, Development Alternatives
B-32, Tara Crescent, Qutab Institutional Area
New Delhi - 110 016, INDIA
Email :
sanjeev@sdalt.ernet.in
|
Back to Contents
|