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IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Botanical Name Calotropis gigantea (Linn.) Ait f.
Family Asclepiadaceae
Sanskrit Name(s)

Alarka
Shwetarka
Ganarupa
Mandara
Vasuka
Pratapasa

English Name(s) Gigantic Swallow Wart
Local Name(s)

Madar (Hin)
Akanda (Beng)
Akro (Guj)
Akand (Mar)

plant image
 
Habitat
All over India, upto an alevation of 900 mtrs. including the island chains of Andaman & Nicobar. Singapore, Malayasia and Southern China.
 
Phytography
Erect much branched shrub, 1-5 mtrs tall. Leaves are fleshy, cuneate-obovate or obovate-oblong, with a narrow cordate or often amplexicaul base, smooth above and velvety below. Flowers pale pink, lilac or purple, very rarely light green or white in simple or complex cymore-corymbs. Follicles 1 or 2, fleshy, recurved, 7-10 cm long. Seeds are brown, broadly ovate, flattened, with a tuft of silky white hairs at the pointed end.
 
Phenology
Planting season Just before monsoons
Flowering & Fruiting Winter
 
Parts Used
stem bark, root bark, flower, latex
 
Ayurvedic Properties
Rasa Katu, Tikta, Madhura
Guna Laghu, Ruksha, Teekshna
Vipaka Katu
Veerya Ushna
 
Actions & Uses
Flowers are digestive, stomachic and tonic. Juice is caustic, purges phlegm and depilatory. Root bark & juice is emetic, diaphoretic, alterative and purgative. Used for leprosy, syphilis, fever and externally applied for painful joints and swellings, various types of skin diseases, ringworm, piles and insect bites.
 
Chemical Constituents
Various parts of the plant yield Akundarin, Calotropin, Uscharin, Calotoxin, Calactin, Gigantin, Calcium Oxalate, a proteoclastic enzyme similar to Papain, Crystalline Alcohols, LCFA, terpenes, esters and other alcohols