Indian Medicinal Plants An Illustrated Dictionary

the gastrointestinal tract and bile
ducts. (German Commission E, The
British Herbal Pharmacopoeia.) It
is contraindicated in tachycardiac
arrhythmias, prostate adenoma,
glaucoma, acute oedema of lungs.
A. belladonna L. (European sp. Belladonna,
Deadly Nightshade) is cultivated
in Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.
The herb contains tropane (tropine)
or solanaceous alkaloids (up to 0.6%),
including hyoscamine and atropine;
flavonoids; coumarins; volatile bases
(nicotine).
Tropane alkaloids inhibit the parasympathetic
nervous system, which
controls involuntary bodily activities;
reduces saliva, gastric, intestinal and
bronchial secretions, and also the activity
of urinary tubules. Tropane alkaloids
also increase the heart rate
and dilate the pupils. These alkaloids
are used as an additive to compound
formulations for bronchitis, asthma,
whooping cough, gastrointestinal hypermotility,
dysmenorrhoea, nocturnal
enuresis and fatigue syndrome.
Atropine provides relief in parkinsonism
and neurovegetative dystonia.
The root is the most poisonous, the
leaves and flowers less, and the berries
the least. (Francis Brinker.)
Dosage ◮ Leaf, root—30–60 mg
powder. (CCRAS.)
Atylosia goensis Dalz.
Synonym ◮ A. barbata Baker
Family ◮ Papilionaceae; Fabaceae.
Avena sativa Linn. 73
Habitat ◮ Subtropical tract of Assam,
Maharashtra and Kerala, up to
1050 m.
Ayurvedic ◮ Maashaparni (substitute).
Siddha/Tamil ◮ Peruvidukol.
Action ◮ Febrifuge, antibilious, antirheumatic
(used in consumption
and swellings).
Atylosia scarabaeoides (L.)
Benth.
Family ◮ Papilionaceae; Fabaceae.
Habitat ◮ Throughout India; up to
1,800 m in the western Himalayas.
Ayurvedic ◮ Vana-kulattha.
Folk ◮ Jangli Tur, Kulthi.
Action ◮ Antidysenteric, anticholerin,
febrifuge; also used in anaemia,
anasarca and hemiplegia. Seeds—
taeniafuge.
A flavone glucoside, atyloside, has
been isolated from the leaves.
Avena sativa Linn.
Family ◮ Gramineae; Poaceae.
Habitat ◮ A cereal and fodder crop of
Europe and America; also cultivated
in India.
English ◮ Oat, Common oat.
Ayurvedic ◮ Yavikaa. (Indian sp. is
equated with A. byzantina C. Koch.)
Unani ◮ Sult (Silt), Jao Birahnaa, Jao
Gandum.
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