Flora of the Nilgiris

Habit : A hispid ascending herb.

Habitat and Distribution : Very common along the roadsides and wastelands, upto 1400m. Pantropical.

Indigenous Information : Goats eat the leaves.  The sap is used as a tattoo dye. The plant has high medicinal value. Leaves are mixed with onions and coconut oil and eaten daily to cure intestinal infections. Mixture to be eaten in very small quantities else causes diarrhea.

Other relevent information : Used in traditional medicine and eaten as a vegetable in some parts of India.

Field Tips : Milky latex present. Leaves vary from green to coppery red depending on its habitat.

 

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Names:

English : Common Spurge
Irula : Pasal geda
Tamil : Amman pacharisi
Hindi : Dudhi

Flower:

A cyathia, aggregated in single or paired heads in axils. Flowering throughout the year.

Fruit :

A capsule, pubescent, persistent. Seeds four angled, minutely furrowed.