Family: Piperaceae
Synonym:Chavica betle (L.) Miq.
Bengali/Vernacular name: Pan (Bengali), Han (Noakhali).
Tribal name: Pandongna (Bawm), Kowaingtak (Chak), Mra (Khumi), Pan nah (Lushai), Ram (Murang), Panthongna (Pangkhoa), Koweyn (Rakhaing).
English name: Betel, Betel-leaf, Betel vine, Betel pipper.
Description of the plant: A perennial stout twinning climber, 5-20 m long, branches with swollen nodes, adhering to supports with short adventitious roots present at the nodes. Leaves simple, alternate, firmly coriaceous, cordate or ovate-oblong or ovate-cordate, base cordate, rounded, apex acuminate, margin entire. Spikes dense, cylindrical, female 2.5-5 cm long, pendulous. Fruit a fleshy drupe, small, ovoid, or globose.
Plant parts used: Leaf.
Herbal uses: Paste prepared from the leaves of the plant is applied for the treatment of boils, cuts, and wounds.
A fresh juice extracted from the leaves of the plant, after adding little amount of honey the mixture is taken three times a day (5 ml amount each time) for three days to treat cold and fever.
A paste made with the leaves of the plant is applied to the forehead to treat headache.
Heated leaves are applied as a poultice on the chest against cough, on the breasts to stop milk secretion, and on the abdomen to relieve constipation.
The leaves of the plant are used for treating eczema, lymphangitis, asthma, and rheumatism.
Chewing the leaf with or without tobacco used to alleviate toothache.
A decoction of the leaves is used to bathe a woman after childbirth, or is drunk to lessen an unpleasant body.
Fresh juice extracted from the leaves of the plant is taken three times a day (5 ml amount each time) for three days to treat rabies.
The leaves of the plant are used for the treatment of lice infestation, indigestion, and glandular swelling.
Distribution: It is cultivated all over the country.
Is this plant misidentified? If yes, please tell us….
