Indian Medicinal Plants An Illustrated Dictionary

540 Reinwardtia indica Dum.
R
Reinwardtia indica Dum.
Family ◮ Linaceae.
Habitat ◮ The Himalayas from
Kashmir to Sikkim; commonly
growningardens.
English ◮ Winter-Flax, Yellow Flax.
Ayurvedic ◮ Baasanti.
Folk ◮ Abai (Maharashtra).
Action ◮ Plant—used for the
treatment of paralysis in Bihar.
The crushed leaves and stems are
applied to wounds infested with
maggots.
Reissantia grahamii
(Wight) Ding Hou.
Synonym ◮ Hippocratea grahamii
Wight.
Pristimera grahamii
A. C. Smith.
Family ◮ Celastraceae; Hippocrateaceae.
Habitat ◮ Konkan, and the South
Andamans.
Folk ◮ Danshir, Daushir, Lokhandi,
Yesti, Zerwati (Maharashtra).
Action ◮ Root—used for the
treatment of respiratory affections,
common cold and influenza.
The roots contain about twice the
amount of pristimerin as in R. indica
and show similar antibiotic properties.
Pristimerin is found active against
Streptococcus viridans, causative organism
for sore throat and tonsilitis,
and S. pyogenes.
Reissantia indica Halle.
Synonym ◮ Hippocratea indica Willd.
Pristimera indica A. C. Smith.
Family ◮ Celastraceae; Hippocrateaceae.
Habitat ◮ North-eastern India.
Siddha/Tamil ◮ Odangod.
Folk ◮ Kazurati, Tirruli (Maharashtra),
Atari-lataa, Kathapahaariaa,
Lokhandi (Bengal).
Action ◮ Root bark—used for the
treatment of respiratory troubles.
Stem—febrifuge. Leaves—scorched
and given to women during
confinement. Powdered leaves
and roots are applied to sores and
wounds.
The roots contain dulcitol. The root
bark contains an antibiotic principle,
pristimerin (0.1%) which shows considered
in vitro activity against several
Gram-positive cocci, both haemolytic
and non-haemolytic. Pristimerin
also inhibits in vitro growth of different
strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Clinical trials have shown that
pristimerin is effective in the treatment
of inflammatory conditions of
the naso-pharyngeal mucosa resulting
from common cold and influenzal infections.
It is found useful as an adjunct
to the common antibiotic therapy of
respiratory inflammations of both bacterial
and viral origin, and is reported
to possess antitumour properties, but
its high toxicity precludes its use as
acancero-staticagent.