Botanical Name Plant's Common Name Plant Family   

   MH086 : Mollugo pentaphylla L.

Plant Category : Herbs

Melghat's Flora's Serial No. : 216

Synonym : Mollugo stricta L.; Pharnaceum pentaphyllum (L.) Spreng.; Pharnaceum strictum (L.) Spreng.;

Plant Common Name : Five Leaved Carpetweed, Mollugo, jharasi, jharasi, Sarsalida,

Plant Family : Molluginaceae

Description : Annual up to 24 cm tall. Stem and branches slender, glabrous. Leaves cauline and ramal, pseudo-verticillate, 1.2-4.0 cm long, 1.5 mm broad, elliptic lanceolate. Sepals 1.5-2 mm long, elliptic ovate. Stamens 5, antisepalous, c. 1.2 mm long; filaments dilated at the base, anthers less than 1 mm long, basifixed, dehiscing longitudinally. Ovary sub-globose, c. 1.5 mm broad, Fruit c. 9 mm broad, membranous. Seed less than 1 mm long, granulate, dark brown.

Plant Location in Melghat : Abundant on moist surface in open grassesland, fields stream and river beds,along roadsides

Medicinal Use / Activity : The plant is anti-pyretic, anti-septic, appetizer, emmenagogue, laxative and stomachic. The plant is a component of an important folk medicine in Taiwan, which is used as an anti-cancer, anti-toxic and diuretic agent. The leaves are used to make a soup that is said to promote the appetite. They are also used to treat sprue and mouth infections. A decoction of the roots is used to treat eye diseases.

Plant's Phytochemicals : COMPOUNDS: Mollugogenol A; Mollugogenol B; Beta-amyrin; Mollugogenol D; oleanolic acid; Beta-sitosterol;

ACTIVE COMPOUNDS (2):

Beta-sitosterol;

Oleanolic Acid;

Plant's Current Status : -

Plant's Cross Database Reference : 259142

Reference : Dhore M. A. (1984) The flora of melghat tiger reserve - https://indiabiodiversity.org/species/show/230394 - http://www.ebbd.info/mollugo_pentaphylla.html - http://impactfactor.org/PDF/IJPPR/8/IJPPR,Vol8,Issue6,Article26.pdf

Reference : ~ Dhore MA and Joshi PA; "Flora of Melghat Tiger Reserve"; Directorate, Project Tiger, Melghat (1988); PMID :

Kingdom : Plantae - Plants
Phylum : Tracheophyta
Subkingdom : Tracheobionta - Vascular plants
Superdivision : Spermatophyta - Seed plants
Division : Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
Class : Magnoliopsida - Dicotyledons
Subclass : Caryophyllidae
Order : Caryophyllales
Family : Molluginaceae - Carpet-weed family
Genus : Mollugo L. - carpetweed
Species : Mollugo pentaphylla L. - mollugo

Mollugo pentaphylla L. - mollugo
Mollugo pentaphylla L. - mollugo