Shankrapushpi holds the botanical name Colchicaceae Gloriosa superba L and is recognised as of great use in the medicinal spheres. This plant is named differently even in the same state. Shankrapushpi is commonly known as `Bishalanguli` in Bengali, `Dudhiovachnag` in Gujarati, `Karihari` in Hindi, `Agnisikhe` in Kannada, `Malattamara` in Malayalam,`Kallavi` in Marathi and `Agnisikhha` in Telugu and Oriya.
Shankrapushpi is distributed throughout tropical India in open or secondary forests from sea level to about 2000 metre elevation. It generally grows under a variety of soil conditions. Shankrapushpi is common in hedges, chiefly on black soils in central India and throughout southern India. Keeping in view the value of this plant , it is often cultivated in gardens throughout India. Not only in India , this plant is of great value among the people residing abroad.
Shankrapushpi is a branched, herbaceous climber with annual, slender stems arising from a perennial, fleshy and tuberous rhizome. The rhizome is cylindrical, bifurcated, usually V-shaped with the two limbs that are 20cm to 30cm long and 2.5 cm to 3.8 cm in diameter. Leaves are alternate, opposite or whorled, 7.5cm to15cm long and 2cm to 4.5 cm wide, ovate lanceolate, apex is acuminate and spirally twisted to serve as a tendril. Flowers are beautiful and showy, large, solitary or in clusters. Fruits are linear oblong, greenish yellow in colour, about 4.5 cm long and 2 cm in diameter and contain many globose seeds. In central India, plants appear with the onset of the rains. This plant generally bear flower in August and September and fruits come out in September and October.
In Ayurveda the tuber (root) of Shankrapushpi is considered anthelmintic, laxative and alexiteric. This plant is used to treat chronic ulcers, leprosy, inflammation, piles, abdominal pains, itching and thirst. The powdered tuber is reportedly used in the form of a paste as a local application for parasitic skin diseases, as a cataplasm for relieving rheumatic pains, and as an external application to promote the expulsion of the placenta after childbirth. The white, starchy powder obtained after repeated grinding and washing of the tubers of Shankrapushpi is reportedly taken to treat gonorrhoea and as an abortifacient. Although the drug is reportedly taken internally in very small doses [5-10 grains] as a tonic, stomachic and anthelmintic, it is an extremely poisonous gastrointestinal irritant, causing vomiting and purging if it is taken without any consultation with the physician.
