Botanical Name Plant's Common Name Plant Family   

   MH404 : Cleome monophylla L.

Plant Category : Herbs

Melghat's Flora's Serial No. : -

Synonym : Cleome cordata Ehrenb. ex Schweinf.; Cleome ehrenbergiana Schweinf.; Cleome epilobioides Baker.; Cleome epilobioides Baker, nom. illeg.; Cleome subcordata Steud. ex Oliver.; Sieruela viscosa Rafin.;

Plant Common Name : Spindle Pod, Cheruvela, Kattukadugu, Ellukku sakkalathi

Plant Family : Cleomaceae / Capparaceae

Description : Erect annual herbs, up to 40 cm high, glandular-pubescent; stem branched, angled, striate. Leaves simple, 1.5-5 x 1-2.5 cm, ovate-oblong, or linear-lanceolate, base truncate, margins ciliate, apex acute; petiole up to 3.5 cm long. Racemes terminal, lax, up to 15 cm long. Flowers 1-1.5 cm across; pedicel up to 8 mm long, glandular pubescent. Sepals 3-4 mm long, linear, acuminate. Petals pink or light purple, 6-10 x 1.5-2 mm, obovate or spathulate, base clawed, apex rounded. Stamens 6; filaments 5-8 mm long, unequal. Ovary 5-8 mm long, linear. Capsule 7-10 cm long, linear, subcylindric, beaked, strongly ribbed, glandular, hairy. Seeds c. 2 mm across, subobicular, ridged, dark brown.

Plant Location in Melghat : A weed of fields and waste places

Medicinal Use / Activity : The seeds and leaves of the violet-flowered form of this plant are used, with or without those of Gynandropsis pentaphylla, to make the Ayurvedic drug called 'hurhur' in India. This drug is used on ulcers, boils and wounds and is said to prevent the formation of pus. The roots are chewed in the morning and evening as a treatment for cough. The finely ground leaf is used for removing irritating particles from the eye. Crushed leaves are rubbed on the head as a treatment for headache. The pounded leaves, dried and ground are put on sores. The pounded leaves, tied on to swellings caused by plague, hasten maturation. The whole plant is used externally as a treatment for swellings. The seeds are anthelmintic, rubefacient and vesicant.

Plant's Phytochemicals : COMPOUNDS: 1-alpha-terpeneol; pentacosane; phytol; 2-dodecanone;

ACTIVE COMPOUNDS (0):

Plant's Current Status : -

Plant's Cross Database Reference : 259142

Reference : Londhe, A.N., Watve, A.V. & Ansari, M.Y. 2002. “Additions to the flora of Melghat Tiger Reserve”. J. Econ. Taxon. Bot. 26: 385 to 395 - http://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Cleome+monophylla - https://indiabiodiversity.org/species/show/251031 - https://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Spindle%20Pod.html - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1570_7458.1995.tb01965.x

Reference : ~ Londhe AN, Watve AV and Ansari MY; "Additions to the flora of Melghat Tiger Reserve"; J. Econ. Taxon. Bot. (2002); 26(2): 385-395 PMID :

Kingdom : Plantae - Plants
Phylum : Tracheophyta
Subkingdom : Tracheobionta - Vascular plants
Superdivision : Spermatophyta - Seed plants
Division : Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
Class : Equisetopsida
Subclass :
Order : Brassicales
Family : Cleomaceae / Capparaceae - Caper family
Genus : Cleome L. - spiderflower
Species : Cleome monophylla L.

Cleome monophylla L.
Cleome monophylla L.
Cleome monophylla L.
Cleome monophylla L.
Cleome monophylla L.
Cleome monophylla L.
Cleome monophylla L.
Cleome monophylla L.