Hathikana
Botanical name Leea macrophylla. Family: Vitaceae (Grape family)
Hathikana, literally meaning, having elephant ears, is an erect shrub, or perennial herbs, 90 cm or more in height, with switchy branches and perennial tuberous roots. Leea macrophylla (Leeaceae) is a wild edible plant with etho-medicinal importance as anti-inflammatory agent.
Leaves simple, ovate-cordate, conspicuously large – lower leaves up to 60 cm in diameter. The large leaves lend it many of its common names. Tiny greenish white flowers in corymbose cymes. Berries are depressed-globose, black. Flowering: July-September.
Common Names: Hathikana, Leea • Hindi: हाथीकाना Hathikana . गजकर्णी Gajakarni, Sanskrit: समुद्रिका Samudrika,
Edible Uses:
Leaves – cooked and eaten as a vegetable. Used as a famine food.
The roots are credited with anodyne properties. The root paste is consumed with a glass of milk as a single monthly dose for birth control. The powdered tuber is used as a treatment for sexual debility in males.
The roots are applied externally as a poultice on wounds and sores, and also as a treatment for guineaworm and ringworm.
The powdered leaves, mixed with honey, are used in the treatment of cancer.
The bark powder is given orally as a treatment for cancer.
The leaves contain an abundance of of phenolic constituents such as flavonoids, leucoanthocyanidins, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, syringic acid and gallic acid.
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