Botanical Name

Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.

Family

Nymphaeaceae /Nelumbonaceae.

Synonyms

Nelumbo caspica (Fisch.) Schipcz., Nelumbo caspica Fisch., Nelumbo komarovii Grossh., Nelumbo nucifera var. macrorhizomata Nakai., Nelumbo speciosa Willd., Nelumbo speciosa var. alba F.M.Bailey., Nymphaea nelumbo L.

Regional Name

English : Lotus, Hindi : Kamal, Kanwal, Sanskrit :Abja, Aravinda, Padma, Kalhara, Sitopala, Pankaja, Urdu : Kamal, Punjabi :Kanwal, Pamposh, Assamese :Podum, Bengali : Padma Phool, Salaphool, Gujrati : Kamal, Kannada : Kamal, Tavare, Naidile, Tavaregedd, Malayalam : Tamara, Venthamara, Chenthamara, Senthamara, Marathi :Komala, Oriya : Padma, Tamil :Tamarai, Thamaraipoo, Aravindan, Paduman, Kamalam, Sarojam, Telugu :Kaluva, Tamarapuvow.

Part Used

Rhizome, Flower.

Description

Kamal is globally distributed in Indo-Malesia, tropical regions of Asia (Iran to China, Japan and New Guinea) and northeast Australia. Within India, it is found throughout, upto an altitude of 1800 m. Kamala is a large, perennial aquatic herb with creeping stem grown in mud at the bottom of shallow ponds, lakes, lagoons, marshes and flooded fields. Drug occurs as entire or pieces of flowers, comprising of calyx, corolla,androecium, gynoecium and thalamus; entire flower 10-15 cm in dia., yellowish-brown;sepals leaf-like, crimpled, 3-5 cm long, 1.3-2 cm wide, dark brown, broken pieces also occur; petals numerous, crimp led, elliptic, obtuse, membranous, finely veined, 2-4 cm long, 1.2-2 cm wide yellowish- brown; anther, erect, linear 1.4-2 cm long, extended into clavate appendages; gynoceium apocarpous; carpels many, free, embedded in a creamy,top shaped fleshy thalamus (torus) 3-5 cm long and 2.5-3 cm wide; fruit an etaerio of achenes, becoming loose in their sockets when ripe; seed hard, black, starchy and large.

Phytoconstituents

Alkaloid (Nelumbine, Nuciferine), Asmilobine& Lirinidine, Flavonoids, Isoliensinine, Neferine, Armepavine and Glycoside (Robinin). Seeds contain 2 – 3 % of oil comprising of palmitic, myristic, oleic and linoleic acid.

Ayurvedic Properties

Rasa :Madhura, Tikta, Kasaya, Guna :Sita, Laghu, Vipaka :Madhura, Virya :Sita, Karma :Kaphahara, MutraVirajaniya, Pittahara, Santapahara, Varnya.

Ayurvedic Applications

Daha, Raktapitta, Trsna, Visarpa, Visavikara.

Medicinal Uses

It is used in during unexplained bleeding during pregnancy, headache, vomiting, Inflammation, menorrhagia and hiccups. It is also used in sweating treatment, psychosis, urinary disorders, maniac disorder, bipolar disorders, burning sensation and blood imbalance disorders, improves lactation, Sexual diseases, bleeding piles and toxic conditions.