Coix lacryma-jobi L.

Family: Poaceae

Synonym:Coix pumila Roxb.

Bengali/Vernacular name: Tojbi.

Tribal name: Kesh bizi (Chakma), Riksiri (Garo), Kingku (Khumi), Mimte (Lushai), Gei chi (Marma), Poom (Murang), Jey-apang (Rakhaing), Kakariguch (Tripura).

English name: Job’s tears, Adlay.

Description of the plant: A coarse annual grass, culms 1-3 m high, densely tufted, nodes glabrous. Leaf blades linear-lanceolate, 10-45 cm long and 2-5 cm wide, apex acuminate, cordate at the base.Spikes 6-10 cm long, erect, and peduncled.Fruits a capsule, enclosing the female flowers.Grains hard, bony, white or nearly black, shining, ovoid.

Plant parts used: Leaf, stem, seed, root.

Herbal uses: A decoction made with leaves and stems of the plant is administered for the treatment of headache, rheumatism, and diabetes.

Seeds of the plant are prescribed for blenorrhagia treatment.

An extract prepared by boiling in water is used for the treatment of warts;also used for lung abscesses, appendicitis, rheumatoid arthritis, and dysuria.

Decoction prepared from the roots of the plant is used to treat gonorrhoea.

Roots of the plant are used for the treatment of menstrual disorders.

Juice extractedfrom the stem isused as drops for eye irritation due to injury.

Decoction and tincture of seeds is used to treat bronchitis, and inflammatory conditions of the urinary tract.

Sap of the stem is applied against insect bites.

Distribution: The species commonly occurs throughout the country in fallow lands.

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