Tragia plukenettii
Radcl.-Sm. in Kew Bull. 37: 688. 1983. Croton hastatus L., Sp. Pl.
1005. 1753 & Syst. Veg. ed. 13, 722. 1767 (non Tragia hastata Müll.Arg.). Tragia cannabina L.f.,
Suppl. Pl. 415. 1781, nom. illeg.; Duthie, Fl. Gangetic Plain 2: 114. 1905; Gamble, Fl. Madras 2(7):
1333. 1925 (repr. ed. 2: 932. 1957). T. involucrata var. cannabina (L.f.) Müll.Arg. in DC., Prodr.
15(2): 944. 1866; Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 5: 465. 1888.
Guj.: Moti-khajavani-vel; Kan.: Kiriturachi, Sannuturachi; Mal.: Cheru-kodithura;
Tam.: Cheru-kanjuru, Cirru-kancharivay, Kanjuruthan, Karunchenthatti, Poonakkachi,
Sirukaanchori; Tel.: Tella-duradagunta.
Straggling, climbing shrubs, rarely erect herbs, ca 1 m high/long, sparsely hispid with stinging hairs; branches scattered hispid, glabrous in age. Leaves palmately 3-lobed or rarely unlobed or 2-lobed with one lateral lobe suppressed, 3 – 10 x 1.5 – 7 cm, chartaceous, sparsely hispid to glabrous above, sparsely hispid or hirsute on nerves to subglabrous beneath, 3- nerved at base; central lobe narrowly oblong or obovate in outline, 1.5 – 8 x 0.5 – 2 cm, irregularly crenate-serrate along margins; lateral lobes 0.5 – 4 x 0.3 – 1.5 cm; lateral primary veins entering into lateral lobes; lateral nerves (on central lobe) 3 – 7 per side, predominantly craspedromous; petioles 3 – 20 mm long. Racemes terminal on lateral shoots or leaf-opposed, 2 – 5 cm long, consisting of solely male flowers or associated with 1 – 3 female flowers at base; peduncles up to 3 cm long. Male flowers: pedicels ca 1 mm long; sepals widely ovate to suborbicular, ca 1 x 0.7 mm, glabrous or thinly pubescent outside; stamens 3; filaments ca 0.3 mm long; anthers oblong, ca 0.3 mm long. Female flowers: pedicels ca 1 mm long; sepals 1 – 2 mm long, fimbriate, thinly hispid outside; ovary ca 2 mm in diam., hirsute; styles ca 3 mm long, trifid at apex. Fruits depressed 3 – 5 x 6 – 8 mm, deeply 3-lobed, evanescently hispid; main body of fruiting sepals linear to oblong, 3 – 6 x 2 – 4 mm (including lobes); lobes 4 – 10 per side, linear, 1 – 2 mm long, fulvous hispid or hirsute.
Fl. & Fr. Throughout the year (flowers greenish or greenish yellow; fruits light green).
Distrib. India: Common in waste places, coastal scrubs, sides of paddy fields, cultivated fields, thickets, hedges, etc., up to 650 m altitude. Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Goa. Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Sri Lanka, Africa.
Uses. The roots are useful in guinea worms and in skin diseases. They are diaphoretic and given in fevers to cause perspiration. A decoction of the roots appears to be useful in bronchitis (The Wealth of India, Raw Materials 10: 272. 1976).
Straggling, climbing shrubs, rarely erect herbs, ca 1 m high/long, sparsely hispid with stinging hairs; branches scattered hispid, glabrous in age. Leaves palmately 3-lobed or rarely unlobed or 2-lobed with one lateral lobe suppressed, 3 – 10 x 1.5 – 7 cm, chartaceous, sparsely hispid to glabrous above, sparsely hispid or hirsute on nerves to subglabrous beneath, 3- nerved at base; central lobe narrowly oblong or obovate in outline, 1.5 – 8 x 0.5 – 2 cm, irregularly crenate-serrate along margins; lateral lobes 0.5 – 4 x 0.3 – 1.5 cm; lateral primary veins entering into lateral lobes; lateral nerves (on central lobe) 3 – 7 per side, predominantly craspedromous; petioles 3 – 20 mm long. Racemes terminal on lateral shoots or leaf-opposed, 2 – 5 cm long, consisting of solely male flowers or associated with 1 – 3 female flowers at base; peduncles up to 3 cm long. Male flowers: pedicels ca 1 mm long; sepals widely ovate to suborbicular, ca 1 x 0.7 mm, glabrous or thinly pubescent outside; stamens 3; filaments ca 0.3 mm long; anthers oblong, ca 0.3 mm long. Female flowers: pedicels ca 1 mm long; sepals 1 – 2 mm long, fimbriate, thinly hispid outside; ovary ca 2 mm in diam., hirsute; styles ca 3 mm long, trifid at apex. Fruits depressed 3 – 5 x 6 – 8 mm, deeply 3-lobed, evanescently hispid; main body of fruiting sepals linear to oblong, 3 – 6 x 2 – 4 mm (including lobes); lobes 4 – 10 per side, linear, 1 – 2 mm long, fulvous hispid or hirsute.
Fl. & Fr. Throughout the year (flowers greenish or greenish yellow; fruits light green).
Distrib. India: Common in waste places, coastal scrubs, sides of paddy fields, cultivated fields, thickets, hedges, etc., up to 650 m altitude. Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Goa. Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Sri Lanka, Africa.
Uses. The roots are useful in guinea worms and in skin diseases. They are diaphoretic and given in fevers to cause perspiration. A decoction of the roots appears to be useful in bronchitis (The Wealth of India, Raw Materials 10: 272. 1976).
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