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8. Elephantopus scaber Linn., Sp. PI. 814. 1753. (Fig. 127).<br />
COMPOSITAE<br />
Engl. Elephant's Foot; Sinh. Et-adi; Tarn. Anashovadi; Hindi Gobhi; Sans.<br />
Adhomukha, Anadujivha, Daivi, Darvika, Darvipatrika, Gobhi, Gojivha, Gojivhika, HdapushpL<br />
Kharapatri, Kurasa, Satamutika Vatona.<br />
A biennial or perennial herb with a short, vertical rootstock; leaves simple, mostly radical,<br />
forming a spreading rosette on the ground; leaves 10—29 cm long, 2—5 cm broad, oblong—lanceolate,<br />
attenuate to the base, acute at apex, undulate, shallowly crenate-serrate and notched,<br />
rough with coarse hairs on both sides, ciliate along the margin, veins very prominent beneath,<br />
petioles short, very broad and sheathing, flowering stem 15—60 cm long, stout, rigid, tough,<br />
scabrous with minute prickles and with adpressed white hair, dichotomously branched above<br />
with a small amplexicaul, acute leaf at each bifurcation; flower heads very numerous, sessile,<br />
closely packed forming a large, flat-topped, terminal inflorescence, 1—2.5 cm wide and<br />
surrounded at base by three, large, stiff, broadly ovate, conduplicate, leafy bracts; involucre<br />
bracts 8 in two rows, lanceolate, acuminate, outer ones 4.5 mm long and the inner ones 8 mm<br />
long, scarious; flowers few, pale violet, usually 4 in a head, several such heads crowded<br />
together in each inflorescence, regular, bisexual, all flowers tubular; sepals 5, reduced to hairy<br />
bristles; petals 5, fused into a corolla-tube 6 mm long, segments free and oblong, about 4 mm<br />
long, wide spreading; stamens 5 on the corolla-tube, filaments free, anthers fused round the style;<br />
ovary inferior, 2-carpellary, unilocular with a solitary basal ovule, style much exserted, tapering,<br />
pubescent, arms recurved; fruit a small, 10-ribbed, pubescent achene, 3.5 mm long with a<br />
pappus reduced to 5 bristles.<br />
Flowers most of the year.<br />
Illustrations. Wight, Ic. PI. Ind. Orient, pi. 1086. 1846; Kirtikar and Basu, Indian Med.<br />
Plants, pi. 517. 1933.<br />
Distribution. A weed found throughout India, Ceylon. Malaya, China, Australia,<br />
America and Africa. In Ceylon, it is very common in open ground up to 7000 feet altitude.<br />
India. E. Bengal: Herb. Griffith'3110, Kew Distribution 1862—3. Courtallam, Hooker<br />
f. and T. Thomson. Chittagong, King's Collector 588, 1886. Ceylon. Thwaites CP. 1772. Central<br />
Prov., Peradeniya, Bot. Gard., Alston 1272, March 1927: Ramanayake, April 1953; Horton<br />
Plains, W. Nock, 1886.<br />
Composition. The roots contain a glucoside.<br />
Uses. In India, a decoction of the root is given for urethral discharges, diarrhoea,<br />
dysentery, dysuria and as a cardiac-tonic, while in Malaya the plant is used as an anthelmintic<br />
for roundworms and a decoction of the root for coughs. In Ceylon, the leaves are ground into<br />
a paste with water and applied with bees' honey on septic nails and on wounds caused by bites of<br />
wild animals. In Indo-China, the plant is used as a decoction for increasing the discharge of<br />
urine. In Madagascar, it is considered a diuretic and febrifuge and in the West Indies as a<br />
tonic, diaphoretic and emmenogogue and given for dyspepsia, intermittent fevers and menstrual<br />
derangements. Guerrero records that the plant is used in decoction as a diuretic, febrifuge and<br />
emollient in the Philippine Islands.<br />
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