Persicaria orientalis

 Scientific name: Persicaria orientalis (L.) Spach

Family: Polygonaceae

Synonym: Polygonum orientale L.

Bengali/Vernacular name: Bara panimarich, Bishkatali.

Tribal name: Aabang (Tanchangya).

English name: Prince’s feather, Oriental pepper.

Description of the plant: A tall annual, with fistulous branches, 0.9-3 m high, usually softly hairy or silky. Stems robust, grooved. Leaves 15-23 cm long, lamina ovate or ovate-cordate, long-pointed; stipules short, truncate, hairy, ciliate at the mouth. Flowers white or red in dense, erect or drooping racemes, 5-10 cm long.

Plant parts used: Leaf and stem.

Medicinal uses: Paste prepared from leaves and stems of the plant is applied on the boils once a day for one day.

Distribution: Throughout the country in damp, lowlying areas, canal banks.

Is this plant misidentified? If yes, please tell us….