Botanical Name

Decalepis hamiltonii 

Family

Apocynaceae

Sanskrit name

Sariva(source)

English name

Swallow-Root

Hindi

Dodi shaak

Kannada

Maakali beru

Habit

Climber

Habitat

It grows in between the rocks and places where there is thick vegetation.

Plant Description

Milky latex is present in the entire plant. Each root is 5-10 cm in diameter and 4-10 roots arise from the rootstock. It is a climbingshrub, with branchlets jointed. Leaves are elliptic or circular, tip blunt, base wedge-shaped, membranous. Flower are borne in cymes trichotomously branched. Flowers small, pale yellow- white, hairy inside. Seedpods are cylindrical oblong, in pairs, woody when dry. Seeds are many, egg shaped with long white silky hairs.

Threat Status

Endangered (EN)

Distribution

Peninsular India, endemic to Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh

Part used

Roots

Medicinal uses

Used as blood purifier. Used to treat fever, intrinsic haemorrhage, asthma, wounds, gastric ulcers.

Other uses

Roots are used to prepare pickles