Barleria lupulina Lindl.
Common Name: Hophead
Family: Acanthaceae
Vernacular Names: Mullu goranti – Hindi., Cemmulli – Tamil., Kanta bishalyakarani – Bengali., Chemmulli – Malayalam
Synonyms: Barleria macrostachya Bojer., Barleria monostachya Bojer., Dicliptera spinosa G. Lodd. Ex Philippar., Dicliptera spinosa Lodd. Ex Nees
Plant Description: Barleria lupulina is a spiny, erect, subshrub about to 50 cm tall, many branched from the base; stems cylindrical, blackish, glabrous, except for younger parts which are covered with minute whitish hair. Leaves with a pair of spines at their axils and usually short branches with clustered leaves. Leaf blades 4.5 – 13 x 0.7 – 2.2 cm, narrowly nelliptic or linear. Flowers clustered in dense terminal spikes with large, overlapping bracts covering the bases of the flowers, bracts obovate about to 1.7 cm long, glaucous with minute glandular dots on both surfaces. Capsule flattened, ovate – lanceolate, glabrous to 1.5 cm long. Seeds 5 – 5.5 mm long, ovate or lenticular, apiculate with fibrous golden covering.
Distribution and Habitat: B. lupulina is native to Mauritius and Eastern India and now can be found widely naturalized in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Within India it has recently spread to the Southern part of the country where it is now growing wild in parts of Tamil Nadu. An erect shrub about 2 – 5 feet high, much branched, usually prickly.
Uses:
Medicinal Uses: Traditional and therapeutically used as anti-inflammatory for insect bites and roots for anti-inflammatory centipede bites.
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