Distribution: India, Sri Lanka, Java and Madagascar
Description: Erect sub-shrubs. Leaves elliptic, acute at both ends, minutely pubescent. Cymes terminal, panicle. Flowers sessile, white. Capsule clavate with a lower solid slender stalk; seeds 1 or 2 in each cell, rugose.
Habit: Shrub
Habitat: Wet areas in moist deciduous forests, also in the plains
Flowering & Fruiting: November-February
Parts used: Whole plant
Properties & Uses: Anthelmintic, antiseptic, aphrodisiac, antiparasitic and anticancerous. Root, leaves and seeds are remedy for ringworm and worm infestation. Root and leaves with lemon juice used for scabies sand skin diseases. Root decoction drunk against snake venom and taken to cure impotency in male. Crushed leaves are applied over the snake bite. Stem and leaves are used for tuberculosis, cough and high blood pressure.