SACRED SHRUB

“The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper” – Eden Philpotts.

Hello everyone, I remembered this quote as I remember a small incident which happened to me. It was during 2013 when I was busy with my schooling and project works. Early morning I was harvesting some leaves of a common weed for my lab work and I was intruded by a minger. He in local kannada slang asked me “What leaves are you collecting?” I just said “I need them for my laboratory work” and ended the conversation.

That moment I just knew I was collecting Abutilon indicum leaves which are weeds grown near roadsides and I had to check its efficacy on mosquito larvae. I just ignored him as even I did not know much about the plant. A fair young girl plucking weeds roadside may leave anyone dumbstruck. I was doing my work and my ignorance reminded him to mind his business. But his words started eating me inside which made me curious to know more about it.

Same evening, I turned on my laptop and typed ‘Abutilon indicum’ in Google, Google had over 4 lakh results! OMG, the plant on which I knew nothing this morning has many things for me to learn. I kept scrolling and surfing those articles one by one; okay, the plant has attracted researchers in great number and still many works are going on the same. It is the same plant once sages in India used to grow it in their backyard and call it ‘sacred’ for its medicinal values. Mesmerising, isn’t it? Well, let me share the importances of this scared shrub ‘Abutilon indicum’-

Morphology and description:

They are commonly called as ‘Indian mallow/ country mallow’, ‘atibalaa’ in Sanskrit, ‘thuthi’ in Tamil and Kannada. It belongs to the family malvaceae. It is an uncultivated shrub, sometimes cultivated as ornamental plant in Tamil Nadu, India.

  

Stem is aerial, erect, cylindrical, and velvety with fine hairs. It grows up to 2 m in height. 

Leaves are alternate, stipulate, heart shaped with long stalk. Margins of the leaves are striated and acute apex. 

It produces single orange coloured flower in auxiliary position. Flowers are bisexual and have long stalks. The attractive glimpse of this flower tempts to grow it as an ornamental plant.

  

Fruit is round in shape with multiple radiating carpels. 

Seeds are small, black and kidney shaped.

Abutilon as tribal medicine:

Abutilon has been used as tribal medicines since centuries; the whole plant has medicinal value and has been used in different ways to treat different ails. Let me share some of the benefits of Abutilon: 

•  Abutilon leaf decoction is used to treat cough, cold fever and related symptoms. 
• The leaf powder is used to cure vaginal infection, uterus displacement. 
• Leaf paste with turmeric reduces pain, heals wounds and ulcers.
• Leaf decoction is used to reduce toothache. 
• The leaf and seed decoction are boon for diarrhoea as it has antihelminthic properties. It is a good deworming herb. 
• Root oil is used to reduce joint pain and inflammations. 
• Roots are used to treat leprosy and gonorrhea. 
• The decoction of the whole plant is used to treat lung diseases. 
• Bark, leaves and seed of the plant is used against urinary tract infections. 
• Aerial parts can be used to cure asthma. 
• Seeds can be used to rejuvenate blood cells.
• The plant has antidiabetic properties and used to control blood glucose level. 
• The leaf extracts is used to reduce blood cholesterol. 
• Leaves and seeds are used in the treatment of piles. 
• Fruit decoction is used to treat haemorrhages. 
• Flowers and seeds are used as aphrodisiac, it increases semen in men. 
• Whole plant powder is administered to females for quick pregnancies. 
• The leaves are used against scorpion bite and remove poison.
• It is also used in treating deafness, heart problems and eye disorders. 
• The usage of this plant builds up body immune system. 

This is more than what you had expected, isn't it? Now you know why I call it a 'sacred shrub'. So the Abutilon indicum really turned out to be a sacred plant. There are much more ways in which the plant can be used. As I had told you I had used this to test against mosquito larvae, the petroleum ether leaf extract showed great larvicidal property with LC₅₀ value 167.70 ppm. 

A small little incident in my life taught me a great lesson. No wonder how much ever the research has been conducted on this plant, yet people are unaware of this. Even today people ask me why do I pluck this weed, well I have answer now. So pass on this message let many learn about this sacred plant. Likewise there are many plants around us which are having great medicinal value, unless we know its importance we will let it grow as a weed. So what are you waiting for? Go get an Abutilon indicum plant to your house and start using it. See you next week, bye bye. 

Please do share if you know any other benefits of Abutilon indicum.