Scientific name: Crotalaria verrucosa L.
Family: Fabaceae
Synonym: Crotalaria mollis Weinm.
Bengali/Vernacular name: Jhanjhani, Bansan.
Tribal name: Salorok (Bawm), Kuduk jhunjhuni (Chakma), Moah soyaleh (Marma), Kan kung (Murang).
English name: Blue rattlesnake.
Description of the plant: A much-branched herb up to 1 m high, branches angled. Leaves simple, ovate to elliptic, 5-14 cm long, pubescent on surfaces, apex rounded, and base cuneate. Flowers bluish-purple in terminal or lateral 12-20 flowered racemes, 15-20 cm long. Pods shortly stipitate, clavate-oblong, black when mature, hairy.
Plant parts used: Leaf.
Ethnomedicinal uses: Leaf paste is prescribed in case of scabies.
Juice extracted from the leaves of the plant is given for diarrhoea, dysentery, dyspepsia, and blood impurities.
A paste is made with the leaves of the plant is applied on the infected skin twice a day until the leprosy is cured.
Distribution: It occurs in Chittagong, Khulna, Patuakhali, Rajshahi, and Sylhet districts.
Is this plant misidentified? If yes, please tell us….
