Barleria cristata, Vajradanti, Semmulli, Philippine violet, Gueule de loup

Barleria cristata L.
Family: Acanthaceae

English: Crested Philippine violet, Philippine-violet
Assamese: Jhinili
Bengali: Janti
Chinese: 假杜鹃
French: Gueule de loup
Hindi: Vajra Danti वज्र दंती
Oriya: Koilekha
Tamil: செம்முள்ளி Semmulli
Telugu: Tellanilambari
Thai: อังกาบ, kaan chang, luem thao yai, thong ra-aa
Japan: barureria
Philippines: kolintang, violeta
Tibet: sa ha ra ca, sa ha ra tsap, sa-ha-tsa
Vietnam: hoa ch[oo]ng

Description: An erect, up to 1.5 m tall, much branched, unarmed shrublet with appressedly hairy twigs, densely so at the nodes, Leaves with 1-2 cm long, hairy petiole; lamina elliptic-oblong to lanceolate, 3-12.5 cm x 1-3.5 cm, hairy both surfaces, attenuate at the base, entire, apically acute-acuminate. Flowers purple blue or pink or white, 4.5-5 cm long, in short, 1-5-flowered, axillary or terminal spikes; bracts absent or lanceolate, 8-12 mm long, bristly on margins, scabrous, acute; bracteoles absent. Calyx deeply 4-cleft, outer 2 lobes much larger than the inner pair, ovate-lanceolate, 1.5-2.5 cm x 6-8 (-10) mm, acuminate, bristly toothed on margins, hairy or glabrescent, inner 2-lobes linear, 7-8 mm long, pointed. Corolla glandular-pubescent outside, tube 3.5-4 cm long, infundibuliform, limb with oblong-obovate, up to 2 cm long, unequal lobes. Filaments hairy, anthers oblong, c. 3 mm long. Ovary oblong-conical, mm long; style c. 4 cm long. Capsule ellipsoid, 1.5-2 cm long, glabrous, pointed at the base and apex, 4-seeded. Seeds orbicular, c. 4 mm across, appressed hairy.

Used  in  Ayurveda  and  Sidha.  Whole  plant  antiinflammatory,  bechic,  hypoglycemic,  spasmolytic,  oxytocic,  used  in  snakebite;  a  paste  or  a  decoction  given  in  tuberculosis.  Leaves for inflammations. Roots and leaves infusion applied  to boils and sores to reduce swellings; the bitter juice of the  leaves  or  roots  diaphoretic  and  expectorant;  root  paste  for  toothache; roots for anemia and cough, a decoction of the  root with Barleria strigosa and dry fish is given in anemia; a  decoction of the root of Barleria strigosa with Barleria cristata and Tinospora cordifolia is given in fevers with honey  and long pepper [CRC World Dictionary of Medicinal and Poisonous Plants]

Extract of the plant—sasmogenic and hypoglycaemic. Root extract—given in anaemia. The leaves are chewed in toothache. Roots and leaves are applied to swellings. An infusion is given in cough. [Indian Medicinal Plants An Illustrated Dictionary]

22 Published articles of Barleria cristata
1.    Variegated 'Philippine violet' (Barleria cristata L.): A new ornamental plant Rajvikraman, R., J. Thomas, and A.G. Pandurangan, Journal of Economic and Taxonomic Botany, 2000. 24(3): p. 723-726.
2.    Topical anti-inflammatory studies on Barleria prionitis and B. cristata Maninder, K., P. Kawal, and V. Karan, Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences, 2013(31): p. 1164-1169.
3.    Screening for anti-diabetic activity of the ethanolic extract of Barleria cristata seeds Ranjit, S., P.H. Rajasree, and C. Sankar, International Journal of Pharmacy and Life Sciences (IJPLS), 2012. 3(10): p. 2044-2047.
4.    Production of Barleria cristata L. as a dwarf flowering pot plant Abou-Dahab, T.A.M. and A.M.A. Habib, Annals of Agricultural Science, Moshtohor, 2005. 43(2): p. 727-746.
5.    Phytochemicals of Barleria cristata and Butea monospermosa as drug targets against Asparaginyl t-RNA synthetase of Brugiya malayi: an insilico approach Nateshan, A., et al., Journal of Pharmacy Research, 2012. 5(8): p. 4133-4136.
6.    OCCURRENCE OF ALTERNARIA TENUIS ON BARLERIA-CRISTATA Purushot.D, Plant Disease Reporter, 1971. 55(2): p. 107-&.
7.    A NOTE ON THE RUST OF BARLERIA-CRISTATA FROM INDIA Paul, Y.S. and L.N. Bhardwaj, Indian Journal of Mycology and Plant Pathology, 1987. 17(3): p. 343-344.
8.    INTERACTION OF SOME GROWTH PROMOTING AND INHIBITING CHEMICALS WITH GROWTH RETARDANTS ON SHOOT LENGTH OF BARLERIA-CRISTATA Bhattacharjee, S.K., Bulletin of the Botanical Society of Bengal, 1976. 30(1-2): p. 143-146.
9.    Interaction of growth retardants and growth promoting substances in Barleria cristata Samant, P.K.S. and P. Das, Orissa Journal of Horticulture, 1991. 19(1-2): p. 22-26.
10.    In vitro antioxidant activity and in vitro alpha-glucosidase and alpha-amylase inhibitory activity of Barleria cristata L Rajasekaran, N. and D. Kanakasabapathi, Research Journal of Pharmaceutical, Biological and Chemical Sciences, 2012. 3(4): p. 780-788.
11.    Identification and antimicrobial activity of saponin fraction from the leaves of Barleria cristata L Amutha, K. and D.V.A. Doss, International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research (IJPSR), 2012. 3(10): p. 4040-4044.
12.    FLAVONOIDS OF RUELLIA-PROSTRATA AND BARLERIA-CRISTATA Subraman.Ss and A.G.R. Nair, Journal of the Indian Chemical Society, 1972. 49(8): p. 825-&.
13.    Evaluation of anti-inflammatory and radical scavenging activity of an aqueous extract of Barleria cristata leaves Gambhire, M., et al., Planta Medica, 2009. 75(9): p. 1071-1071.
14.    Evaluation of antibacterial and antifungal activity of Barleria cristata - an invitro study Darling, C., G. Punnagai, and M. Aparna, World Journal of Pharmaceutical Research, 2015. 4(2): p. 1253-1258.
15.    Effects of Cycocel on growth of two cultivars of Barleria cristata L. (Philippine violet) Henny, R.J., Plant Growth Regulator Society of America Quarterly, 1995. 23(4): p. 214-217.
16.    Effect of nitrogen, p.a.p.o.g.a.f.o.B.c.L.S., Priyanka, et al., Indian Journal of Horticulture, 2013. 70(3): p. 442-447.
17.    Effect of BA, B.-n., Bonzi and Cycocel on growth of Philippine violet (Barleria cristata L) Henny, R. J., et al., Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the Florida State Horticultural Society, 1995. 107: p. 177-178.
18.    Cytomorphological study on some garden forms and intraspecific hybrids of Barleria cristata L Krishnaswami, S. and P.M. Menon, South Indian Horticulture, 1973. 21(2): p. 43-49.
19.    A COMPARATIVE PHARMACOGNOSTIC STUDY ON BARLERIA LEAF OF BARLERIA-CRISTATA BARLERIA-STRIGOSA AND BARLERIA-PRIONITIS Sinha, P., et al., Indian Botanical Reporter, 1984. 3(2): p. 115-120.
20.    Clonal evaluation in Barleria cristata L Chezhiyan, N., et al., South Indian Horticulture, 1985. 33(1): p. 38-41.
21.    Chemical constituents isolated from leaves of Barleria cristata Linn Hemalatha, K., N. Hareeka, and D. Sunitha, International Journal of Pharma and Bio Sciences, 2012. 3(1): p. P-609-P-615.
22.    Antibacterial activity of Barleria cristata bark extracts Salib, J.Y., et al., Journal of Applied Sciences Research, 2013. 9(3): p. 2156-2159.