70 Aspidopterys indica Hochr.
Aspidopterys indica Hochr. Synonym A. roxburghiana A. Juss. Family Malpighiaceae.
Habitat Eastern Himalayas, Assam, Meghalaya, Orissa and peninsular India.
Folk Chuttakulaa-tigaa (Telugu). Action The extract of aerial parts— hyp otensive.
Asplenium adiantum-nigrum
Linn.
Family Aspleniaceae.
Habitat Kashmir at 1500—2000 m and extending to Dalhousie and Chamba in Himachal Pradesh.
English Black Spleenwort.
Folk Krishna fern.
Action Fond—expectorant, pectoral, emmenagogue. Rhizome— anthelmintic. Plant—bitter, diuretic, laxative, anti-inflammatory. It is used for diseases of spleen and in jaundice; produces sterility in women.
The fonds contain aliphatic hydrocarbons, the chief one being hentriacontane, non-acosane and triterpenoid hydrocarbons, mainly of 22 (29)- hop ene.
Alcohols, sterols and fatty acids are also reported.
Related sp. include: A. laciniatum D. Don (vitamin K3 and phthiocol have been isolated for the first time from the plant); A. adiantoides (L.) C. Chr., synonym A. falcatum Lam. (used in
the treatment of enlarged spleen, in incontenence of urine, in calculus, jaundice and malaria); A. nidus Linn. synonym Thamnopteris nidus (L.) C. Presl., known as Bird’s Nest Fern (used as a depurative and sedative).
Asteracantha longifolia Nees.
Synonym Hygrophila spinosa T Anders
Family Acanthaceae.
Habitat Common in moist places, paddy fields, throughout India and Sri Lanka.
Ayurvedic Kokilaaksha, Kokilaakshi, Ikshura, Ikshuraka, Kaakekshu, Kshurak, Bhikshu.
Unani Taalmakhaanaa. (Wrongly equated with Euryaleferox Salisb. (Fox Nut) in National Formulary of Unani Medicine, Part I, first edn., 1981.)
Siddha/Tamil Neermulli, Nerugobbi.
Action Diuretic, used for catarrh of the urinary organs, also for dropsy when accompanied by hepatic
obstruction.
The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India recommends the seed in lithiasis; the whole plant and root for
