Spiderwort.

 

Botanical Name: Spiderwort.

Scientific Name: Asystasia gangetica.

Family: Acanthaceae.

Usable Parts: Leaves, flowers, stems, etc.

Cultivation: Spiderwort is found throughout Tamil Nadu. It is prominently seen along roadsides, in marshy areas, and fertile sandy soils. Its native range includes India, Malaysia, and Africa. It has also spread from Asia to northern Australia. It is found in the Pacific Islands as well. It is a small herbaceous plant that thrives in open fields. It has opposite, elliptic to lanceolate green leaves. Its flowers come in blue, white, and dark purple colors. Its flowers are known as Gangesprim rose in northern India, Chinese violet, Philippine violet, and Coromandal violet. Bees are attracted to its flowers, making it useful in honey production. Spiderwort has medicinal properties. Its crushed roots are used to treat dysentery. The plant's root powder is useful for treating snakebites. Its leaves are used to reduce swelling and pain in the stomach and heart. In Nigeria, its leaves are used to treat asthma. Crushing its leaves and applying them to wounds helps in faster healing.

Medicinal Uses: In Indonesia, Spiderwort leaves are boiled with lemon and onions to relieve fever, headache, and heart pain. In the Philippines, its leaves and flowers are used to treat diarrhea. In Africa, it is used to ease childbirth pain and relieve throat and chest pain. Its leaf powder is also used to treat snakebites. In Nigeria, its leaves are used for asthma treatment. Boiling its leaves in water and drinking the decoction helps in treating kidney stones, blood impurities, and fever. Drinking milk after boiling Spiderwort leaves in water for four hours and then straining it helps improve eyesight, relieves eye strain, cures night blindness, cures conjunctivitis, and relieves eye fatigue. A dose of 60 ml of Spiderwort root decoction, taken after boiling the leaves in water, helps in curing all types of snake venom.