Digital Garden

Strychnos nux-vomica L.

കാഞ്ഞിരം

Family : LOGANIACEAE

Synonym : Strychnos ligustrina Blume

Common Names : Etti, Kangnalam, Kanjiram, Kanniram, Kariram, Nux-vomica tree, Poison nut, Strychnine tree, Snake wood

Flowering Period : March-December

Distribution : Indo-Malesia

Habitat : Moist and dry deciduous forests, also in the plains

Uses : Nux Vomica is recommended for upset stomach, vomiting, abdominal pain, constipation, intestinal irritation, hangovers, heartburn, insomnia, certain heart diseases, circulatory problems, eye diseases, depression, migraine headaches, nervous conditions, problems related to menopause, and respiratory diseases in the elderly. In folk medicine, it is used as a healing tonic and appetite stimulant. Nux vomica is a common homeopathic medicine prescribed for digestive problems, sensitivity to cold, and irritability.

Key Characters :

Trees, to 20 m high, bark yellowish or blackish-grey, smooth. Leaves simple, opposite, elliptic, margin entire. Flowers bisexual, greenish-white, in terminal sessile cymes. Calyx lobes 4. Corolla greenish-yellow, longer than lobes, lobes 4, oblong, acute. Stamens 4, anthers sessile inserted at the throat of corolla tube. Ovary 2-celled, ovules many in each cell. Fruit a berry, globose, yellowish-red or orange; seeds 3 or 4, flat, shiny, greenish-white.