Cassytha filiformis - Love Vine

❏ Binomial Name : Cassytha filiformis L.

❏ Synonym : 

❏ Family : Lauraceae

❏ Common Name : Love Vine, air creeper, devil's gut, dodder-laurel

❏ Tamil Name : Pacu korran

❏ Hindi Name : akas bel 

❏ IUCN status: Not Evaluated

Cassytha filiformis Botanical Description

Leafless twiners. Spikes terminal or axillary; peduncle 2-4.5 cm; bracteoles 3, ovate, 1.2 mm, ciliate. Flowers sub sessile, in spikes, 3-merous, bisexual, 3 mm across. Tepals 6, free, unequal, 3+3, truncate, obtuse; outer lobes ovate-orbicular, 1.2 mm, ciliate; inner lobes obovate, 2.5 mm. Fertile stamens 9; filaments 1.5 mm; glands sessile; anthers 2-celled, 1.5 mm; staminodes 3, to 1 mm. Ovary 1.5 mm; style 0.5mm; stigma capitate. Drupe globose, enclosed within inflated perianth, crowned by lobes; seed 1. Fl. &Fr.: August-September.

Cassytha filiformis Medicinal uses

❀ The whole plant, but especially the stem, contains a series of alkaloids, tannins, saponins and leucanthocyanins. Several of the alkaloids show pharmacological activities when tested in isolation.

❀ An infusion of the stems is used in the treatment of digestive problems such as indigestion, biliousness and diarrhoea; feverish conditions including malaria; urinary system problems, including nephritis and oedema; headache, hepatitis, piles, sinusitis and spermatorrhoea.

❀ A decoction of the stems is drunk to relieve itch and eczema.

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