Scientific name: Holarrhena antidysenterica (Roxb. ex Fleming) Wall. ex A.DC.
Family: Apocynaceae
Synonym: Nerium antidysentericum L.
Bengali/Vernacular name: Kurchi, Kuruj, Kutesshor (Bengali); Karach (Chittagong); Karas (Sylhet); Indrajib (Dinaj).
Tribal name: Kuruk gach (Chakma), Bol-dukhak-ki-bipang (Garo), Krah-p-sen (Khasia), Lata baong (Marma), Punarcha (Murang), Lakhow-bawn (Rakhaing), Kuruk (Tanchangya), Kuichiana-phang (Tripura).
English name: Kurchi tree, Conessi tree, Bitter oleander, Tellicherry bark.
Description of the plant: A small to medium-sized tree. Leaves 10-15 cm long, petioles short, ovate, elliptic, or elliptic-oblong, base rounded, apex acuminate. White flowers appear in corymb-like cymes, 5-15 cm across, at the end of branches. Flowers have five white petals 2-3 cm long which turn creamish yellow as they age.
Plant parts used: Bark.
Ethnomedicinal uses: Fresh juice extracted from the bark of the plant is taken twice a day (20 ml amount each time) until the diarrhoea and hook worm infestation is cured.
Cottonseed-sized pills are made with the dried barks of the plant are taken (one pill each time) until the gastric ulcer and hyperacidity is cured.
A fresh juice is extracted from the bark of the plant, after adding some sugar it is taken twice a day (15 ml amount each time) until the abdominal pain, dysentery is cured.
A paste is made with the bark of the plant is applied on the infected skin for leprosy and boils to treat it.
Decoction prepared from the dried barks of the plant is taken four to five times a day (5 ml amount each time) until the dysuria is cured.
Decoction prepared from the bark of the plant is taken in empty stomach thrice a day (100 ml amount each time) for three days to treat thread worm infestation.
An extract is made with the bark of the plant; gargling is done with that extract of the plant three times a day until the sore in mouth is healed.
Distribution: The species occurs very commonly in the northern, central, and eastern parts of the country.
Is this plant misidentified? If yes, please tell us….
