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Calotropis gigantea (L.) Ait. in Pandanus database of Indian plant names
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  Calotropis gigantea (L.) Ait. details in Pandanus database of Indian plant names

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 Latin nameCalotropis gigantea (L.) Ait.
 FamilyAsclepiadaceae
 Identified with (Lat)Asclepias gigantea L.
 Identified with (Skt)arka
 Identified with (Hin)āk, madār
 Identified with (Ben)ākanda
 Identified with (Tam)erukku, veḷḷerukku
 Identified with (Mal)erukku
 Identified with (Eng)Gigantic swallow wort, Mudar
 Botanical infoA moderate sized perennial shrub, contains milky latex, pinkish white flowers, grows all over India in dry waste lands.
 Search occurrencearka, in the Pandanus database of Sanskrit e-texts
 See plant's imageCalotropis gigantea (L.) Ait. in Google image search
 Encyclopedias &
 Dictionaries

Monier-Williams: A Sanskrit-English Dictionary (p. 89)
arka, as, m. (√ arc), Ved. a ray, flash of lightning, RV. &c.; the sun, RV. &c.; (hence) the number 'twelve,' Sūryas.; Sunday; fire, RV. ix, 50, 4, ŚBr. BṛĀrUp.; crystal, R. ii, 94, 6; membrum viriIe, AV. vi, 72, 1; copper, L.; the plant Calotropis Gigantea (the larger leaves are used for sacrificial ceremonies; cf. arka-kośī, -parNa, palāśa, &c. below), ŚBr. &c., a religious ceremony, ŚBr.; BṛĀrUp. (cf. arkāśvamedha below); praise hymn, song (also said of the roaring of the Maruts and of Indra's thunder), RV. & AV.; one who praises, a singer, RV.; N. of Indra L.; a learned man (cf. RV. viii, 63, 6), L. [89,2]; an elder brother, L.; N. of a physician, BrahmaP. (cf. arka-cikitsā below); (as, am) m. n. (with agneḥ, indrasya, gautamasaḥ, &c.) N. of different Sāmans; food, Naigh. and Nir. (cf. RV. vii, 9, 2).

Tamil Lexicon, University of Madras (p. 532)
erukku: 01 yarcum, madar, m. sh., Calotropis gigantean
02 1. To kill; 2. To harass, trouble; 3. To cut, hew; 4. To beat, as a drum; 5. To strike, as a bush; 6. To destroy; 7. To lay a burden upon; 8. To produce sound on a musical instrument of percussion

Tamil Lexicon, University of Madras (p. 3797)
veḷḷerukku: White madar, l. sh., Calotropis gigantea-albiflora

Dymock, Warden, Hooper: Pharmacographia Indica (vol. II, pp. 428-434, 436-437)
Calotropis gigantea, Calotropis procera, Asclepiadeae
Fig.- Gigantic Swallowwort (Eng., C. gigantea)
Calotropis is mentioned by the earliest Hindu writers, the leaves, arkapattra, arkaparna, "sun leaf" or "lightning leaf," so called from their cunciform shape, were used in Vedic times in Sun-worship. According to the Shatapatha Brāhmana every part of the human form was supposed to be represented in the different parts of the plant, nevertheless it would appear to have been dreaded (Panchatantra i. 57) and was supposed to blind those who approached it. (Mahabhārata i. 716.) These myths appear to have arisen from the Hindus attributing to the plant the properties possessed by lightning and the sun-rays. (De Gubernatis.) As a medicine Calotropis is noticed by Suśruta and other medical writers, some of whom mention two varieties, arka and alarka, "a white flowered kind." Calotropis bears many synonyms in Sanskrit, such as Rudra, Aditya, Suryapattra and Mandāra, from the last of which is derived the vernacular form Madār.
In Western India, and probably elsewhere, there is a curious superstition that a leaf of the Akra (Arka) fetched from the tree with certain ceremonies is of use in tedious labor. The friens of the woman take a packet of betelnut and leaf and a piece of money, and proceed to the plant, which they address in the most respectful manner, placing the betel packet at its root and asking for the loan of one of its leaves, which they promise to return shortly. They then take away a leaf and place it upon the head of the parturient woman, where it remains for a short time, and is afterwards returned to the plant. This practice appears to be connected with the worship of the Maruts or winds, demigods subject to Rudra, to whom these plants are sacred. The Maruts are worshipped on Saturday with a garland of the flowers. The twigs are used as samidhas, and the leaves are used by some in the shati puja to propitiate the goddess of parturition. Calotropis is also the 'kul' or Arbor generationis of the Bhandāri caste, whose business it is to tend the palm gardens and extract the juice of the trees. Another custom general amongst all castes of Hindus is that a man who has lost three wives must make his fourth marriage with the Arka tree, after which he may take a fourth human wife. The object of this seems to be to transfer the mans's ill-luck to the plant. The ancient Arab tribes appear to have held superstituous notions about Calotropis, probably connected with Sun-worship. C. procera was first described by Abu Hanifeh circa 270 A.H. in his Book of Plants. From the Kāmus and the Tāj-el-arōs we learn that Ushar was used by the Arabs in the Time of Ignorance along with salaa in the practice called tasliaa which was observed in time of drought or barrenness of the earth. It consisted in tying the dried plants to the tails of wild bulls, setting fire to them, and driving the animals down from the mountains, seeking to obtain rain by the flame of fire, which was likened to the gleaming of lightning. The Salaa from Abu Hanifeh's description appears to have been a kind of Cuscuta. According to the Burhan, ushr is a Persian name for all plants having a milky juice, and especially for the plant known in Hindustan as âk. It would therefore seem that Ushar is not an Arabic word, as generally stated in the Dictionaries, but of Arian origin, and perhaps connected with the Sanskrit verb ush- to burn. The wood is considered to make the best charcoal for the preparation of gunpowder, and Ushar silk is used to stuff cushions by the Arabs, and also to make tinder (makhad), called by the Tartars yālish. Ibn Sina notices Ushar, and an exudation obtained from it called Sakar-el-ushar; he also mentions a superstitious notion that it is fatal to sit under the tree. The author of the Minhāj describes Sakar-el-ushar as a gum which exudes from the inflorescence of the plant and gradually hardens. (He remarks that people say that it is a dew which falls upon the plant and concretes like manna.) Some medical writers confound it with Sakar-el-tighāl. Abu Hanifeh and the author of the Obāb describe it as an exudation from the flowering parts of the plant. The best authorities describe its properties as similar to those of the juice of the plant, it would therefore seem to be nothing more than an exudation of the juices of the plant which naturally contain some sugar. Calotropis is not mentioned by Greek or Roman writers, but some Mahometans give Hejakiyus as its Yunani name; this appears to be a corruption of the word -*-, "most holy," or "under divine protection," and was probably applied to the plant by some of the Syrian physicians who instructed the Arabs in Greek medicine. The modern Persians call C. procera Khark and Darakht-i-zahrnāk, or "poison tree."
By HIndu physicians the root bark is said to promote the secretion and to be useful in skin diseases, enlargements of the abdominal viscera, intestinal worms, cough, ascites, anasarca, &c. The milky juice is regarded as a drastic purgative, and caustic, and is generally used as such in combination with the milky juice of Euphorbia neriifolia. The flowers are considered digestive, stomachic, tonic and useful in cough, asthma, catarrh and loss of appetite. The leaves mixed with rock salt are roasted within closed vessels, so that the fumes may not escape. The ashes thus produced are given with whey in ascites and enlargements of the abdominal viscera. The following inhalation is prescribed for cough: Soak the powdered root bark of Arka in its own milky juice and dry. Bougies are then prepared from the powder, and their fumes inhaled. The root bark, reduced to a paste with sour conjee (rice vinegar), is applied to elephantiasis of the legs and scrotum. The milky juices of C. gigantea and Euphorbia neriifolia are made into tents with the powdered wood of Berberis asiatica, for introduction into sinuses and fistulae in ano. The milky juice is applied to carious teeth for relief of pain." An oily preparation (Arka taila) made by boiling together 8 parts Sesamum oil, 16 parts Calotropis juice, and one part tumeric, is said to be useful in eczema and other eruptive skin diseases. In the Concan the milk with powdered mustard is applied as a lap to rheumatic swellings, the flowering tops pounded and boiled with molasses, are given in doses of about one drachm every morning as a remedy for asthma. In want of virility the following prescription is in vogue: Take 125 of the flowers, dry and powder, then mix with one tolā each of cloves, nutmegs, mace and pellitory root, and make into pills of six massas each. One pill may be taken daily dissolved in milk.
The author of the Makhzan-el-adwiya says there are three varieties of Calotropis- 1st, a large kind with white flowers, large leaves, and much milky juice, it is found near towns and the habitations of man; 2nd, a smaller kind with smaller leaves, the flowers white externally but lilae within; 3rd, a still smaller plant, with pale yellowish green flowers. The second and third kinds grow in sandy deserts. The properties of all three are similar, but the first kind is to be preferred, as it produces the largest quantity of milk. The juice is described as caustic, a purge for phlegm, depilatory, and the most acrid of all milky juices. Tanners use it to remove the hair from skins. Medicinally, it is useful in ringworm of the scalp, and to destroy piles; mixed with honey it may be applied to aphthae of the mouth; a piece of cotton dipped in it may be inserted into a hollow tooth to relieve the pain. HakÄŤm MÄŤr Abdul HamÄŤd, in his commentary upon the Tuhfat, strongly recommends Calotropis in leprosy, hepatic and splenic enlargements, dropsy and worms. A peculiar method of administration is to steep different kinds of grain in the milk and then administer them. The milk itself is a favourite application to painful joints, swellings, &c., the fresh leaves also, slightly roasted, are used for the same purpose. Oil in which the leaves have been boiled is applied to paralysed parts; a powder of the dried leaves is dusted upon wounds to destroy excessive granulation and prmote healthy action.
All parts of the plant are considered to have valuable alterative properties when taken in small doses.
C. procera was observed in Egypt by Prosper Alpinus (A.D. 1580-84), and upon his return to Italy was badly figured, and some account given of its medicinal properties. (De plantis Aegypti, Venet. 1592, cap. 25.) A much more correct figure was published 1638 by his commentator Vesling. Rheede (Hort. Mat. II., t. 31) figures a white-flowered Calotropis (Bel-ericu) and a lilac (Ericu), and Rumphius (Hort. Amb. vii., t. 14, f. 1) figures C. gigantea under the name of Madorous. Roxburgh (II., 30) gives a botanical description of C. gigantea under the name of Asclepias gigantea, and mentions the medicinal uses to which it is applied by the natives of India. Ainslie, in his Materia Medica of Hindustan (1813), mentions two kinds of Calotropis, and in the Materia Medica he says, "Both plants in their leaves and stalks contain much milky juice, which, when carefully dried, is considered as powerfully alterative and purgative, and has been long used as an efficacious remedy Koostum (lepra Arabum) of the Tamools; the dose about the quarter of a pagoda weight in the day, and continued for some weeks. The root of the Yercum has a bitter and somewhat acrid, or rather warm taste; it is occasionally given in infusion as a stimulant in low fever. Of the other variety, the Vullerkoo, the bark is warmish, and when powdered and mixed with a certain portion of margosa oil, is used as an external application in rheumatic affections. In the higher provinces of Bengal the Arka is supposed to have antispasmodic qualities. Mr. Robinson has written a paper on elephantiasis, which may be seen in Vol. X. of the Journ. of the Medico-Chirurgical Society, extollling the madar root (Yercum vayr) as most efficacious in that disease, as also in veneral affections. In elephantiasis he gave it in conjunction with calomel and antimonial powder, in a pill, consisting of half a grain of calomel, three of antimonial powder, and from six to ten of the bark of the madar root, every eight hours. Mr. Playfair has also written a paper on the same root which may be seen in Vol. I. of the Edin. Med. Chirurg. Trans., p. 414, wherein he speaks in praise of the alterative, stimulant, and deobstruent virtues of the bark, or rather rind bellow the outer crust of the root, reduced to fine powder, in cases of syphilis, lepra, hectic fever, &c., dose from grs. 3 to 10 or 12, three times in the day, gradually increasing it. Messrs. Robertson, Playfair, and others seem chiefly to dwell on the virtues of the rind or bark of the root; but I must observe, that in Lower India, where I was for many years, I found the simple dried milky juice considered as infinitely more efficacious; and later communications from the East confirm me in this opinion." (Op. cit. I., p. 487.)
The emetic properties of Calotropis were brought to the notice of the profession in Europe by Dr. Duncan in 1829 (Edin. Med. and Surg. Journ., XXXII., p. 65), and they are noticed in the Bengal Dispensatory, where the drug is recommended as a substitute for Ipecacuanha. Since the publication of that work abundant testimony in its favour has been collected, a summary of which will be found in the Pharmacopoeia of India. Duncan (1829) made a hemical examination of the root bark, the activity of which he referred to an extractive matter which he termed Mudarine. A kind of gutta-percha was obtained from the juice of this plant by Dr. Riddell, Superintendent Surgeon H. H. the Nizam's Army, in 1851. (Journ. Agri-Hort. Soc. of India, Vol. VIII.) In 1853 it was examined by Prof. Redwood, who found it to possess many properties in common with the gutta-percha of commerce. No further trial of this substance appears to have been made during the last 37 years.
Modern physiological research has shown that the juice applied to the skin acts as an irritant, the practice of applying it with salt to bruises and sprains to remove pain is therefore rational; also the application of the fresh bark in chronic rheumatism. Given internally in small doses the drug stimulates the capillaries and acts powerfully upon the skin, it is therefore likely to be useful in elephantiasis and leprosy. (Casanora.) The benefit derived from the administration of the flowers given in asthma is probably due to their nauseant action. In large doses Calotropis causes vomiting and purging, acting as an irritant emeto-cathartic.
Toxicology.- In India Calotropis juice is used for the purpose of infanticide by the castes among which that custom prevails, being placed in the mouth of newly-born female infants. It is also, like other emeto-cathartics, sometimes taken by women to procure abortion, and a few cases are on record of its having been used for suicidal purposes. Like other irritant vegetable juices it is not uncommonly used locally to produce abortion; usually a stick is armed with cotton impregnated with the juice and an attempt is made to introduce it into the os uteri, and leave it there until uterine contractions are induced, but this operation often fails from awkwardness on the part of the operator, and it is not unusual to find that stick has been forced through the uterine walls. Another method of procedure is to select a twig of the plant, and after removing the leaves and making it as smooth as possible, to introduce it into the os uteri, or failing this to allow it to remain in contact with the parts. Pessaries also, containing the irritating juice of this and other plants, are placed in contact with the uterus to induce uterine action.
Sakmuniya or Bazaar Scammony (vol. II, pp. 544-545)
This substance is all fictitious, and is said to be made in Surat; nevertheless it was for many years purchased by the Medical Store Department in Bombay under the impression that it was genuine Scammony! (See Pharmacopoeia of India, p. 447.) It usually occurs in irregular fragments of a bright green colour, somewhat translucent at the edges, and having a resinous fracture. Rectified spirit dissolves the resin, and leaves a residue of green coloring matter and gum; the former is evidently of vegetable origin.
Sometimes a black Sakmuniya is met with; this is also spurious, and is resinous in taste and smell, but has a more earthy appearance than the green variety. Rectified spirit dissolves out a quantity of resin, and leaves a black residue which, under the microscope, is seen to be made up of tufts of vegetable hairs, numerous small carbonaceous particles, and small irregular crystalline particles. Treated with dilute hydrochloric acid it effervesces feebly after a short time; with strong acid it effervesces strongly at once, and forms a green solution.
The Persians call Scammony Mahmudah. Mir Muhammad Husain in the Makhzan gives a good description of it and the plant which produces it. He tells us that artificial Scammony is made from the juice of Calotropis gigantea, mixed with the flour of a kind of pulse called in Persian 'Karsanah.' His account of the uses of the drug does not differ materially from that given in European works, with the exception that Scammony when baked is said to lose its aperient properties and to act as a powerful diuretic. The baking process consists in enclosing the powdered drug in a bag, and then placing the bag under inside an apple or quince which has been hollowed out for the purpose, the apple is the enclosed in dough like a dampling and baked in an oven.


 
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