Description :
Common annual shrub in Indian gardens and waste places throughout the plains of India. The leaf petioles are long and slender. The leaves are oval in shape. The numerous tiny maroon coloured flowers are found on several pendulous stalks and hence the common name known as cat tail

Parts Used : Whole plant

Taste : Bitter, pungent

Actions :
Anodyne, anthelmintic, cathartic, diuretic

Uses :
Ulcers, pain of snake-bite, skin diseases, asthma, pneumonia, rheumatism, scabies, vermifuge.

Dosage :
1/2 teaspoon morning and evening mixed with some honey or hot water.

How to Use :
Leaves posses laxative properties ; "are used as a substitute for senega" ; are used in the form of powder or decoction ; mixed with garlic they are used as anthelmintic in worms. Mixed with common salt they are applied to scabies ; and their juice mixed with oil forms an application in rheumatic arthritis. Powder of dry leaves is used in bed sores. Hakims treat cases of acute mania and hysteria in early stages by the following mode - Take one ounce of fresh juice of the leaves and dissolve in it six grains of common salt ; drop a little of this mixture in each nostril every six hours from morning and then place the patient under cold shower baths for three mornings regularly ; this gives relief from running rose.