shana :

Seedpods and seed Photograph by: Arria Belli

Use in other system of medicine:

Edibility

- Flowers and leaves reportedly eaten as vegetable.

- In Vietnam, seeds are roasted and eaten.

Folkloric

- No reported folkloric medicinal use in the Philippines.

- In Ayurveda, plant vitiated kapha, vata, cough, dyspepsia, fever.

- Powdered seeds mixed with milk used for increasing body strength; also used for skin diseases.

- In Cameroon, plant used in the treatment of eczema.

- In Tamil Nadu, India, plant used for cough, dyspepsia, fever, cardiac disorders, stomatitis, diarrhea, scabies, impetigo.

- In Zaria, northern Nigeria, powdered plant mixed with roasted black caraway, taken in small quantities for stomach coli and flatulence. Squashed flowers with added potash, cooked into a soup, and taken for amenorrhea. For scabies, decoction of whole plant used for bathing.

- Roots used for hemoptysis.

- Leaves mixed with those of Crotalaria quinquefolia, consumed or applied externally for fever, scabies, lung afflictions, and impetigo.

- In Bangladesh, tribal people in the Chittagong Hill tracts use fresh juice and paste of leaves and seeds for skin diseases.

- In India, seeds used for skin infection, constipation and pain.

Others

- Fiber: Bark and stems are sources of strong fiber; used for cordage and making canvas.

- Dye: In East Africa, used as dye plant.

- Oil: Seed yields a non-edible, non-dryiing oil, with potential for use in making shampoo, creams, and shoe polish.

- Livestock hazard: Poses a potential hazard to livestock because of pyrrolizidine alkaloid content.

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