Indian Medicinal Plants An Illustrated Dictionary

Habitat ◮ Mediterranean region.
English ◮ European or Sicilian
Sumach (used in Unani medicine).
Unani ◮ Sumaaq, Taatraak.
Action ◮ Leaves and seeds—
astringent, styptic.
Limonene, nonanal and dec-2 (Z)enal
were obtained from pericarp oil,
whereas the leaf oil contained betacaryophyllene
and patchoulane. Cembrane
and beta-caryophyllene were
isolated from branch and bark oil.
Rhus parviflora Roxb.
Family ◮ Anacardiaceae.
Habitat ◮ Dry hot slopes of the
Himalayas from Punjab to Nepal
and in the hills of Madhya Pradesh
and South India.
English ◮ Sumach.
Ayurvedic ◮ Tintidi, Tintindeeka.
Unani ◮ Sumaaq.
Folk ◮ Raitung, Tung (Kumaon).
Action ◮ Fruit juice—vermifuge.
The leaves contain the flavonoids,
myricetin, quercetin and kaempferol
and their 3-O-rhamnosides; the stems
and leaves also gave hentriacontane,
hentriacontanol, beta-sitosterol, lignoceric
acid and iso-rhamnetin-3-alpha-
L-arvinoside.
Smooth Sumach and Sweet Sumach
(Canada and USA) are equated with
Rhus glabra L. and R. aromatica Ait.
Smooth Sumach is astringent and diuretic.
Sweet Sumach is used for its
antidiabetic activity; the root bark is
Rhus succedanea Linn. 549
used for irritable bladder, bed-wetting
and urinary incontinence. (Natural
Medicines Comprehensive Database,
2007.)
Dosage ◮ Fruit—3–6 g powder.
(CCRAS.)
Rhus succedanea Linn.
Synonym ◮ R. acuminata DC.
Family ◮ Anacardiaceae.
Habitat ◮ The temperate Himalayas,
from Kashmir, Sikkim to Bhutan at
altitudes of 600–2,500 m.
English ◮ Japanese Wax tree, Wild
Varnish tree.
Ayurvedic ◮ Karkatashringee.
(Used as a substitute for Pistacia
integerrima galls.).
Unani ◮ Kaakraasingi.
Siddha/Tamil ◮ Karkatakasringi,
Kadukapoo (galls).
Action ◮ Thorn-like excrescences
on the branches—astringent, expectorant;
prescribed in diarrhoea,
dysentery and vomiting. Fruits—
expectorant (used as an adjuvant in
tuberculosis).
The sapwood and heartwood contain
polyphenols. The sapwood contains
gallo tannin; the heartwood gave
fisetin, and its -7-glucoside, fustin, garbanzol,
3,7,4 ′ -trihydroxyflavone, gallic
and ellagic acid. The bark is reported
to contain 10% of tannin.
The juice from the leaves causes blisters.
Leaves contain 20% tannin (dry
basis), a flavone glycoside rhoifolin, corilagin
and shikimic acid. Ethanolic
R