Curculigo orchioides, நிலப்பனைக்கிழங்கு, काली मुसली, నేలతాడి, তলমুলি, Sâm cau images uses and publications

 

Curculigo orchioides Gaertn.
Family: Hypoxidaceae

Synonyms: Curculigo brevifolia Dryand. ex W.T.Aiton, Curculigo firma Kotschy & Peyr., Curculigo malabarica Wight, Curculigo orchioides var. minor Benth., Curculigo pauciflora Zipp. ex Span., Curculigo petiolata Royle, Curculigo stans Labill., Franquevillea major Zoll. ex Kurz, Gethyllis acaulis Blanco, Hypoxis dulcis Steud. ex Baker, Hypoxis minor Seem., Hypoxis orchioides (Gaertn.) Kurz

• English: Black musli
• Bengali: তলমুলি talamuli
• Hindi: काली मुसली kali musli, ताल मूली tal-muli, तीर्ण पदी tirna padi
• Kannada: ನೆಲತಾಳೆ nelataale, ನೆಲತೆಂಗು nelatengu
• Konkani: मसळकांदो masalkamdo
• Malayalam: നിലപ്പന nilappana
• Marathi: काळी मुसळी kali musali, मुसळकंद musalakanda, तालमूली tal-muli
• Oriya: talamuli
• Sanskrit: मुसली musali, तालमूली talamuli
• Tamil: நிலப்பனைக்கிழங்கு nilappanaikkilanku
• Telugu: నేలతాడి nela-tadi
• Tulu: ನೆಲಮುಂಡ nelamunda
• Vietnamese: Sâm cau
• Chinese: 仙茅

Descrption: Plants 10-35 cm tall. Root tubers elongated. Leaves radical, lanceolate, plicate, sparsely long ciliate. Scape short, hidden among the leaf bases. Flowers in racemes, subsessile, the upper staminate, lower hermaphrodite, bracteate; bracts lanceolate. Tepals elliptic-oblong, 5-7 mm long, yellow, ciliate. Stamens about half the length of the perianth segments, anther linear. Ovary pubescent, separated from the perianth by a stipe, lanceolate, locules imperfect; ovules 6-8; stigmas 3. Fruit 1-4-seeded, beaked. Seeds oblong, grooved.

Used for piles, diseases of the nervous system,  emaciation and weakness due to internal injury  (therapeutic uses based on texts from the fourteenth–sixteenth centuries). According to Bhāvaprakāsha (sixteenth century), a compound containing Shatavari  (Asparagus racemosus), Mundi (Sphaeranthus  indicus), Guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia),  Hastikarna Palāsha (Leea macrophylla)  and Tālamūli (C. orchioides) acts as an  aphrodisiac. 

Uses in ethnomedicine: for treating spermatorrhea, impotency, and increasing sexual vigor  in males. Also used for leucorrhea, as a uterine  stimulant, as a stomachic during menstruation  and for increasing lactation.  [Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeial Plant Drugs: Expanded Therapeutics]

Used in Ayurveda. Whole plant made into a paste applied as anti-rabies on the dog bitten part. Roots diuretic, tonic and aphrodisiac, used to treat asthma, jaundice, piles, diarrhea, fever, venereal diseases, gonorrhea, toothache; root paste with salt applied on boils, ulcers; tuber powder of Eulophia ramentacea given with the roots of Chlorophytum tuberosum and Curculigo orchioides with milk to cure impotency and weakness; root powder in oil dropped in ear for earache; root juice for peptic ulcer, also given to women for stomachache during menstruation; root paste given for abortion; pulp of the root taken with fresh blood of a white cock to cure epilepsy; in cholera, fresh root juice given to check loose motion. Roots and leaves applied to the body used as a contraceptive. Tuberous roots pounded and applied to cuts, boils, blisters, itches and wounds; tuber paste applied on forehead to cure headache, also applied on eye brows to cure migraine; powdered tuberous roots with milk a tonic for impotency, quick ejaculation, spermatorrhea, in general and sexual debility; tuber juice applied as eye drop for eye diseases; tubers of Curculigo orchioides pounded with roots of Geniosporum coloratum given in impotency. Paste from tubers along with tubers of Globba bulbifera and Costus speciosus applied in knife injuries; astringent tubers chewed to prevent diarrhea. Veterinary medicine, tubers given with meals to kill maggots in wounds; dried tubers ground with stem of Cissus quadrangularis given orally for impaction; leaves of Andrographis paniculata along with those of Vitex negundo, Cardiospermum halicacabum, tubers of Curculigo orchioides and Urginea indica pounded and extract given for ephemeral fever; roots of Agave americana along with those of Curculigo orchioides, leaves of Andrographis paniculata and Vitex negundo pounded and the extract given for ephemeral fever; root fed to cattle for hoof infection; dried root powder poulticed to eyes for eye sight; stem bark of Acacia chundra along with leaves of Derris scandens and tubers of Curculigo orchioides pounded, boiled in water and the decoction given orally in trypanosomiasis; tuber juice applied as eye drop for eye diseases. Magico-religious beliefs, contact therapy, a piece of rhizome tied on the left arm of a pregnant woman to ensure a male child. [CRC World Dictionary of Medicinal and Poisonous Plants]

Ethnomedicinal uses: 100 g of powder of dried tuber is mixed in “Khowa” (concentrated milk) prepared from 5 L of buffalo milk and eaten early in the morning by tribals for 7 d as an eye tonic and also to treat fatigue. One teaspoon of root powder is taken orally by tribal women for 7 to 10 d to treat leucorrhoea and menorrhagia. A powder of the tuber is given orally to children to treat rickets. A tuber extract is applied locally to treat gonorrhoea and syphilis. A decoction of the tuber is given to children as a tonic and also to treat filariasis. [Herbal Drugs: Ethnomedicine to Modern Medicine]
Nervine, adaptogenic, sedative, anticonvulsive, androgenic, anti-inflammatory and diuretic. Used in Jaundice, urinary disorders, skin diseases and asthma. Mucilaginous. [Indian Medicinal Plants An Illustrated Dictionary]

It helps in polyurea, dysuria, gonorrhoea, menorrhagia, leucorrhoea and piles. It is considered a nutritive and aphrodisiac, for which 3–6 g of root powder is given twice daily. It is used for gastroenteritis, hepatitis and as an anti-inflammatory agent. For most of the  diseases,  25–50  g  of  dry  root  in  powdered  form  is  boiled  in  milk,  with  sugar according to taste. In this way it exudes mucilage and has a demulcent activity, which helps convalescent geriatric patients. [Rasayana: Ayurvedic Herbs for Longevity and Rejuvenation]

 

247 Published articles of Curculigo orchioides