Holostemma Creeper

Common name: Holostemma Creeper • Hindi: Chhirvel • Marathi: Dudruli, Shidodi • Tamil: Palay kirai • Malayalam: Ada kodien • Telugu: Palagurugu • Sanskrit: Jivanti, Arkapushpi


Botanical name: Holostemma ada-kodien Family: Asclepiadaceae (Milkweed family)

Synonyms: Holostemma annulare

Holostemma Creeper is a handsome, extensive, laticiferous, twining shrub with large conspicuous flowers. The bark is deeply cracked. The leaves are ovate to heart-shaped, 5-12 × 2-8 cm, coriaceous, acute, smooth above, and finely pubescent. The flowers are greenish-yellow in color, purplish crimson inside, in lateral cymes. The petals are thick, typical of the milkweed family. Flowers are very fragrant. The central crown is edible. The fruits follicles sub-woody, 6-9 cm long, tapering and green. The roots are pretty long up to a meter or more in length, thick, cylindrical and irregularly twisted. It grows over hedges and in open forests especially on the lower slopes of hills. But its occurance has diminished very much within this range of distribution and hence it is considered endangered. Flowering: April-September.

Medicinal uses: Mainly the roots and the whole plant are used for medicinal purposes. Externally the paste of its leaves and roots alleviate oedema due to vitiation of pitta dosa. The herb is beneficial for external use in various skin diseases, wounds and inflammation of the skin.