Pankaj Oudhia’s Notes on Mesua ferrea L. [Kirtikar, Kanhoba Ranchoddas, and Baman Das Basu. "Indian Medicinal Plants." Indian Medicinal Plants. (1918)].
Pankaj Oudhia’s Notes on Mesua ferrea L. [Kirtikar, Kanhoba Ranchoddas, and Baman Das Basu.
"Indian Medicinal Plants." Indian
Medicinal Plants. (1918)].
Pankaj Oudhia
Introduction
Based on Ethnobotanical
surveys since year 1990 in different parts of India Pankaj Oudhia has
documented vital information about Medicinal Plants mentioned in the famous
publication by Kirtikar and Basu (1918). Through this research document Pankaj
Oudhia has tried to present original document with additional notes. For
complete paper with pictures, Interactive Tables, Video and Audio clips please
visit pankajoudhia.com
For original publication by Kirtikar and Basu (1918) please visit https://archive.org/details/indianmedicinalp01kirt
134. Mesua
ferrea, Linn, h.f.b.l, i. 277
Roxb. 437.
Syn. : — M.
speciosa, Chois ; M. coromandeliana, Wight.
Sans. :—
Nagakesara.
Vera. : —
Nagkesar ; naghas ( H. and B.) ; Nageshvoro,
nageswar
(Uriya); Nahor (Assam.) ; Nagchampa ; thorlachampa
(Bom.;
Nagchampa, thorla chumpa (Bombay); Nagachampa ;
nagchampha
(Mar.); Naugal ; Mallay naugal ; nagap-pu ; Nagas-
hap-pu (Tarn.,);
Naug (Tinnevelley) ; Naga Kesara ; naga
kesaramu ;
gejapushpam ! Tel.); Naga sampigi ; Nassampige
(Kan. v ;
Behetta-cham-pagam ; velutta-chenpakam (Mai.).
Habitat : —
Mountains of Eastern Bengal, the Eastern
Himalaya and the
Eastern and Western Peninsulas.
A large
evergreen glabrous tree ; trunk erect, straight ;
twigs slender
sub-4-angled. " Bark Jin. thick, reddish-brown,
peeling off in
flat thin cakes, having a slightly roughened
surface. Wood
somewhat resembling that of Calophyllum, but
much harder and
heavier. Heart-wood red, dark, extremely
hard. Pores
moderate-sized, scanty, often filled with yellow
resin, singly or
grouped, or in oblique strings of varying length.
Medullary rays
extremely fine, uniform, equidistant, very
numerous.
Numerous fine wavy lines of dark-coloured tissue,
regular and
prominent, but of very different lengths (Gamble).
The young shoots
at first brilliant red, then pink, gradually
passing into
dark green (Brandis). Leaves coriaceous, 2-6 by
1J to If in.,
drooping linear-lanceolate, base acute or rounded,
dark green and
shining above, covered more or less with a fine
waxy meal
beneath ; veins very fine, close-set and equally
N. 0.
GUTTIFEIUE. 155
inconspicuous on
both surfaces ; petiole i-Jin. Flowers very
fragrant,
usually terminal and solitary or in pair, nearly sessile
bisexual, 3-4in.
diam. Flowers, Feb-April. Sepals 4, in 2 rows,
thick orbicular,
with membranous margins, inner pair largest.
Petals 4,
imbricate, spreading cuneate obovate, pure white.
Stamens
indefinite, Anthers as large, oblong, linear, basifixed,
golden yellow.
Ovary 2-celled, 2 ovules in each cell ; style
filiform ;
stigma peltate. Fruit pointed, conically ovoid, 1-l^in.,
2-valved. Valves
tough, supported by the enlarged sepals. Seeds
1-4, testa
smooth, hard, shining, dark brown ; embryo a fleshy
homogeneous
mass.
Parts used- -The
flowers, kernel, bark and leaves. [Pankaj Oudhia’s Comment: All parts are
used as medicine. Even the insects and mites attacking its wild population are
used as medicine in Traditional Entomophagy and Entomotherapy. The Traditional
Healers of Chhattisgarh and Odisha use the soil collected from root zone of
Mesua in treatment of different diseases both internally as well as externally.
For details please see Tables Mesua-1 to Mesua-15]
Use. — The
flowers are considered by the Hindu physicians
to have
astringent and stomachic properties, A paste made
of the flowers
with butter and sugar, is used in bleeding piles
and burning of
the feet. (U. C. Dutt.)
The flowers and
leaves are used in Bengal as antidote to
snake poison
(O'Shaughnessy). The bark is mildly astringent
and feebly
aromatic (Dymock) ; the oil of the seeds is used as an
embrocation in
rheumatism in North Canara (Ph. Ind., p. 32),
and found useful
in the treatment of itch by K. L. Dey.
[Pankaj Oudhia’s Comment: The
Indian Traditional Healers have in depth Traditional Medicinal Knowledge about
this species. I have documented information about over 150,000 Herbal
Formulations in which Mesua is added as denary ingredient. Mesua flowers are
popular as immune booster among the Healers. Flowers are added as tertiary
ingredient in over 40,000 Herbal Formulations. Most of these Formulations are
new to modern science and waiting for validation through clinical trials. Mesua
bark is added as nonary ingredient in thousands of formulations used for blood
related diseases. Most of the Healers practice Traditional Allelopathic
Knowledge or collect the plant parts from wild based on this knowledge in order
to get the desired effects. Mesua roots are used in treatment of Neurological
disorders in form of over 20000 Herbal Formulations. Mesua roots are added as
primary, secondary and octonary ingredients in these formulations. Please see
Tables Mesua-16 to Mesua-216 for exhaustive information on this species.]
In many
localities, the flowers are used for cough, especially
wheu attended
with much expectoration. Rheede states that
the bark is
given as a sudorific combined with ginger.
Moodeen Sheriff
considers the flowers of Mesua ferrea
and Ochrocarpus
longifolius to be stimulant and carminative
and useful in
some forms of dyspepsia and in haemorrhoids.
The seeds
resemble chestnuts in colour and form. The
kernel yields
79*48 p.c. of a brown non-drying oil, partially
soluble in
alcohol, and gives an orange coloration, with a mixture
of sulphuric and
nitric acids. The residue contains 2414 p. c.
of proteins. (J.
Ch. I, for Aug. 31, 1910, p. 1019.)
The seeds are
brown and generally pear shaped ; they consist of a shiny,
brittle, woody
shell containing a single buff-colored kernel. Shell 34 per cent.,
kernel 56 per
cent, The kernels contain 76 per cent, of reddish brown oil
with a sweetish
smell and slight bitter taste. The oil became semi-solid on
standing at 15°
C. Sp-gr. at 15° C. 0'935 ; saponification value, 204 ; iodine
value, 90. The
oil is useful in soap making. The residual cake is bitter and
probably
poisonous ; it would only be of value as manure.
[Bulletin
Imperial Institute 1913.]
E-documents on
Mesua
Citation
Oudhia, Pankaj (2013).
Pankaj Oudhia’s Notes on Mesua ferrea L. [Kirtikar, Kanhoba Ranchoddas, and Baman Das Basu.
"Indian Medicinal Plants." Indian
Medicinal Plants. (1918)]. www.pankajoudhia.com
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