Common Name: Malabar Nut Tree

General Information

Justicia adhatoda is an erect, evergreen, shrub with few branches to many branches[, ]. It usually grows up to 2.5 metres tall, but exceptional specimens to 6 metres can be found[, ].
Used in traditional medicine, in craftwork etc, it is harvested from the wild. The plant is also often grown in gardens as an ornamental[].

Known Hazards

Extracts of the leaves (probably saponins[]) are used as fish poisons[].

Botanical References

,

Range

Eastern Asia - Indian subcontinent, Sri Lanka.

Habitat

Found on a variety of sites from moist river banks to dry slopes and disturbed areas, at elevations from sea level to 1,300 metres[].

Properties

Weed Potential	Yes
Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Shrub
Height	3.00 m
Pollinators	Insects
Cultivation Status	Ornamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

A plant of the drier to wet, lowland tropics, where it is found at elevations up to 1,300 metres. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 20 - 27°c, but can tolerate 12 - 32°c[]. When dormant, the plant can survive temperatures down to about -1°c, but young growth can be severely damaged at 2°c[]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 700 - 1,700mm, but tolerates 500 - 4,200mm[].
Prefers a sunny position, tolerating light shade[]. Prefers a pH in the range 6.5 - 7.5, tolerating 5.5 - 8[].
Since it is unpalatable to livestock and has the ability to colonize waste places and disturbed areas, this plant may become a weed when introduced to new areas[].

Edible Uses

The young tender shoots are boiled and eaten with salt[].

Medicinal

The whole plant is antiinflammatory, antispasmodic, febrifuge, pectoral[]. It is used to remove phlegm and as a treatment for excessive menses[].
The roots and leaves are widely used in the Ayurvedic and Unani systems of medicine in India and Thailand for treating bronchitis, asthma, fever and jaundice[].
A medicine for setting broken bones, relieving pain, resolving phlegm[].

The leaves are antiseptic[, ].

About 50 g of the freshly collected root is boiled and mixed with cow milk (125 ml), then given orally once a day as a treatment for diabetes[].
The plant is potential anti-diabetic due to the presence of the compounds vasicine and vasicinol[].

The plant is said to have definite expectorant activity and is used in the treatment of bronchitis[].

Agroforestry Uses:

The plant is often used in hedges[]. The plant is traditionally grown in living fences in the northwestern Himalayas, where it helps to exclude livestock and other animals; mark out land boundaries; whilst also providing a range of medicinal and other uses[].
The plant is used for reclaiming waste land[].

Other Uses

The leaves, when boiled with the sawdust of Jack wood (Artocarpus integrifolia), yield a yellow dye[, ].

Extracts of the leaves are used as insecticides and fungicides[, ].

The wood is made into beads[].

The wood is used for fuel[], and a good quality charcoal is made from it[, ].

Propagation

Seed -

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