Botanical Name

Woodfordia fruticosa (L.) Kurz.

Family

Lythraceae.

Synonyms

Lythrum fruticosum L., Lythrum hunteri DC., Woodfordia tomentosa Bedd.

Regional Name

English : Fire flame bush, Hindi : Dhai, Dhava, Sanskrit : Bahupuspa , Vahnijvala, Assamese : Dhaiphool, Bengali : Dhaiphul, Gujrati : Dhavadi, Dhavani, Kannada : Dhataki, Tamrapushpi, Kashmiri : Kath, Malayalam : Tattiripuvu, Tatire, Marathi : Dhayati, Dhavati, Oriya : Dhaiphula, Dhatuki, Punjabi : Davi, Phul Dhava, Tamil : Kattati, Kattathi., Kattattipoo, Telugu : Aarl Puruvu.

Part Used

Flower.

Description

Dhataki is a much branched, semi deciduous, undershrub or shrub, 1-3 m high, rarely upto 3 m, found throughout India, ascending to 1500 m in Himalayas and also in the Gangetic plains, also cultivated in gardens. Flower, about 1.2 cm long, occurs as single or in bunches of 2-15, calyx 1.0-1.6 cm long, ridged and glabrous, bright red when fresh but fades on drying, with campanulate base and oblique apex having 6 triangular and acute teeth, each tooth being, 2-2.5 mm long, 6, very minute accessory sepals attached outside at the juncture of calyx tooth and deeper in colour, petals 6, attached inside the mouth of calyx-tube, slightly longer than calyx tooth, alternating with calyx-tooth pale rose or whitish, thin, papery, lanceolate, acuminate, stamens 12, united at the base, about 1.5-2 cm long, filament filiform, curved at the apex, keeping anthers inside calyx-tube , anthers dorsifixed brown, almost rounded or broadly ovate, carpels 2, united, ovary superior, style filiform, longe, than ovary and stamens, taste, astringent.

Phytoconstituents

It contains Tannins and glucosides. Hecogenin, inositol, kaemperol-3-, glucoside, naringenin-7-7 glucoside, tannins (pyrogallol and hydrolysable types), woodfordins A, B and C, lawsone, botulin etc.

Ayurvedic Properties

Rasa : Katu, Kasaya, Guna : Laghu, Virya : Sita, Vipaka : Katu, Karma : Grahi Visaghna, Garbhasthapana, Krminut, Sandhaniya.

Ayurvedic Applications

Atisara, Pittasra, Visa, Krmi, Raktapitta, Trishna, Vrana, Visarpa and Jwara.

Medicinal Uses

It is useful in the conditions of kappa and pitta dosa, leprosy, burning sensation, skin diseases, diarrhoea, dysentery, fever, headache, haemorrhoids, herpes, internal haemorrhage, leukorrhea, liver disorders, menorrhagia, ulcers, wounds.