gandapura :

kasturilatika consists of seed of Hibiscus abelmoschus Linn. Syn. Abelmoschus moschatus Medik (Fam. Malvaceae), an evergreen shrub about 1.22 m in height cultivated in hotter parts of India.

Taxonomical Classification

Family: Malvaceae

VERNACULAR NAMES

English: muskmallow
Telugu: Kasturi Benda
Bengali: Latakasturi
Marathi: Kasturbhendi
Gujarathi: Bhindo, Bhinda
Tamil: Kasturi-vendai
Malayalam: Kattu Kasthuri, Kasturi Kanda
Kannada: Kasturi Kande, Kadu Kastuar
Punjabi: Mushak Dana, Lata Kasturi

Synonyms

Synonyms in Ayurveda: latakasturikam, zatakasturika

Rasa: Katu Madhura Tikta
Guna: Laghu
Veerya: Sheetha
Vipaka: Maduram
Karma: Kaphahara

Phytochemistry:

Fixed Oil and Volatile Oils

PHARMACOLOGY:

IMPORTANT FORMULATIONS -

Karpuradyarka

Dosage:

2-4 gm of the drug in powder form.

Morphology:

Seeds greyish-brown and blackish, not velvety to touch, kidney-shaped, slightly compressed with shallow depressions on both sides, marked with minute parallel ridges and furrows; hilum small and distinct; odour, musk-like; no taste.

Histology:

Shows two integuments, outer integument forms ridges and furrows; epidermis consists of single layered tangentially elongated cells, followed by 1 to 3 layers of thinwalled tangentially elongated cells in the region of furrows; 1 to 4 rows of rounded, thick-walled cells containing yellowish-brown masses with 1 or 2 of the upper most rows thin-walled, tangentially elongated and pointed cells present in the region of ridges; inner integument represented by palisade like cells, containing some granular masses followed by thin and thick-walled parenchyma; the thick-walled being 4 to 8 layered, compactly arranged, tangentially elongated, having reddish-brown contents, followed by the thin-walled and colourless cells; 8 to 12 layers of cells large, isodiametric to oval; a single layer of tangentially elongated cells present; cotyledons two, consisting of single layered cubical to irregular cells of epidermis covered by cuticle and followed by a single layered palisade like cells; the rest of the cotyledons consists of 4 to 6 rows of thin-walled, isodiametric cells filled with granular masses; lower epidermis composed of a single layer of cells covered with cuticle.