Very Nice catch Ushadi Ji On Tue, Sep 6, 2011 at 6:02 PM, ushadi Micromini <microminipho...@gmail.com>wrote:
> Dear All: > > This is a new plant for me... never knew cotton plants would go on and on > for years... this one does apparently... look at its stem... its about 8 - 9 > inches in diameter... I always thought cotton plants were a yearly > affair... may be the agricultural pathos had brainwashed me/us... > > This was in a well tended herbal Garden ... for demonstration purposes to > Ethnomedicine and other students.. > > > Family : Malvaceae > > * * > > *Species: Thespesia lampus* (Cav.) Dalz. Ex. Dalz. & Gibs. ; > > Syn: *Azanzas lampas* (Cav.) Alef.; > > *Thespesia macrophylla* Blume > > Vernacular names : Bengali: Ban Kapas * *বন* *কাপাস > > Gujarati: Jungli Para piplo જંગલી* > *પ।રસ પીપળો > > > > This specimen was about 9-10 feet tall, grew kinda straight up, had a few > flowers, I went in 4 pm , so the flowers were closing, but the petal color > was still beautiful pink... and a few pods high up had opened up to reveal > the cotton. The leaves were varied in size... largest were 7-8 inches long. > > > > > What is used is: Various tribes use differently... Some use flower paste > for burn, root paste for eczema, juice of young pods on Scabies. I found > it very curious that Santhals of Bengal mix juice of its stem bark and > Aristolochia indica root paste on snake bite.... this we learned in class. > > > But along a Bengal village by the Damodar river we found an old lady who > said she had in the past used the root bark juice to induce miscarriage ( > this is quite opposite to the effect of Thepesia populinea root bark paste > effect... which says it helps women get pregnant, esp get a male child... > curiouser and curiouser!!!) > > > Come to think of it ... similar plant had been growing beyond the wall of > students' garden at a Ayurvedic college... and the local young gardeners, > very sheepishly asked us not to photograph it... > > there was so much else to learn that we did not pursue that tree... but I > distinctly remember it had cotton pods.. round ones , just like this one... > > > Thanks.. > > Usha di > > -- Regards Dr Balkar Singh Head, Deptt. of Botany and Biotechnology Arya P G College, Panipat Haryana-132103 09416262964
