Cicer arietinum L.

Family: Fabaceae

Synonym: Cicer sativum Schkuhr                             

Bengali/Vernacular name: Cholla, Chana, But, Butkalai, Sola.

Tribal name: Pee-gie-bawn (Rakhaing).

English name: Bengal gram, Chick pea.

Description of the Plant: An erect or spreading, much branched annual herb, up to 1 m tall. Leaves imparipinnate, rachis ending in a bristle or a terminal leaflets, stipules ovate, leaflets ovate, elliptic, serrate. Flowers solitary, axillary, white, greenish, pink or blue. Fruit a pod, swollen, oblong, 1-4 seeded. Seeds angular with pointed beak and small hilum, testa smooth, wrinkled or rough, yellow to black.

Plant parts Used: Leaf, stem, seed.

Traditional Uses: An extract made with the seeds of the plant and some salt by boiling in water, it is used for gargling four times a day until the toothache is cured.
A paste made with the seeds of the plant is applied to the infected face once a day for the treatment of acne.
Green pods and tender shoot are used as a vegetable.
Aerial parts of the plant are used to treat fever, dysmenorrhea, gonorrhea, menstrual and urinary troubles.
Boiled leaves are applied to sprains, and dislocated limbs.
The boiled gram is used in respiratory trouble.
Seeds have been used in the treatment of dyspepsia, constipation, and snakebite
Half cup of seeds are taken daily for lower blood sugar levels, and control of diabetes.
Seed are used as a supplement for the treatment, alleviation or prevention of cardiovascular disease.

Distribution: It is cultivated throughout the country.

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