![]() Barachandrika plant is a small, much-branched woody shrub that is 0.6 metre to 1.2 metre high. The leaves are whorled and ovate-elliptic. The flowers of this medicinal plant are greenish-white or creamy-white in colour and are in umbellate cymes. Fruits are ovoid, deep red or purple in colour when they get ripe. Seeds are oblong and rugose. Barachandrika begets flowers and fruits almost throughout the year. The fruits of Barachandrika are known to result in alimentary inflammation. The roots of Barachandrika plants are hypotensive and often used as a substitute for and adulterant of Rauvolfia serpentine. This Indian medicinal plant can also prove to be fatal as it can cause mouth pain, haemorrhagic diarrhoea, weak but quickened and irregular pulse, intense thirst and dysuria and even death. However the medicinal usage of Barachandrika remains undeniable. An extract of the plant mixed with castor oil is prescribed as a liniment to treat certain chronic and refractory skin problems. Sometimes a decoction of Barachandrika bark is used as an external application for chronic skin diseases and to destroy parasites generally in the vicinity of West Indies. This article is a stub. You can enrich by adding more information to it. Send your Write Up to content@indianetzone.com |