संस्कृत नाम- कुटजः
Botanical name - Hollarhena antidysenterica
Description - A tall shrub or small tree, sometimes up to 10 meters tall laticiferous woody, glabrous with pale bark. Leaves 10-30 cm Simple leaves, opposite, glabrous with obtuse base nerves on the leaves conspicuous, Leafstalks very small. Flowers in terminal corymbose cymes, white fragrant, 1-1.5 en diameter, in large terminal bunches. Fruits 8-10 , follicles slender, cylindric 20-45 cm long, 6-8 mm thick, dark grey with white specks all over. Seeds linear, oblong, tipped with a spreading deciduous coma of brown hairs
Chemical_Constituents- Stem and root bark contain alkaloids conessine and 17 others; the chief being - concuressine, kurchamine, kurchimine, kurcholessine, conimine, conkurchine, conessidine, holarrhenine, holafrine, holarrhetine, kurchiphyllamine, kurchiphylline, besides gum, resin and tannin. Root bark contains holacetine. Bark contains alkaloid holarrifine, regholarrhenine D, E, and F, kurchessine, holadienine, triterpene alcohol, lupeol and Beta-sitosterol . Leaves contain aminoglycosteroids holantosines, N-acetylholantosine C, D, N-acetylholarosine A, holarosine B, holantosines E and F. Fruit and seeds contain triacanthin. Seeds contain drying oil. Latex contains resinols - Lettoresinol A & B Total alkaloid percentage is about 4.5.
Uses - Leaves, seed and bark leaves are used in Psoriasis effectively. Seeds are laxative. Bark is analgesic, astringent and used in all diseases where discharges are more, like diarrhoea, dysentery, dysmenorrhoea, hemorrhoids, diabetes, in colic pain. Bark and seeds are astringent, Antiperiodic, febrifuge, highly useful in diarrhoea and Dysentery.