Curculigo orchioides Gaertn.
Family: Amaryllidaceae
Common Name: Golden eye-grass
Vernacular Name: Kali Musli (Hindi), Talamuli (Sanskrit), (Nilapanai) Tamil, Nilappana (Malayalam)
Plant Description
Curculigo orchioides is a rare, endangered herb used for many traditional ayurvedic treatments.
Habit: Herb
Height: 15-45cm
Leaves: Leaves radical, lanceolate, plicate, sparsely long ciliate
Stem: short, enclosed in the base of sheathing petiole
Root: Elongated tubers
Flower: Flowers in racemes, subsessile, the upper staminate, lower hermaphrodite, bracteate; bracts lanceolate. Tepals elliptic-oblong, yellow and 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
Medicinal Properties
• Aphrodisiac: Used as an aphrodisiac in Ayurvedic and Siddha medicine
• Immunomodulator: Used as a potent immunomodulator in Ayurvedic medicine
• Antioxidant: Has antioxidant properties
• Anti-inflammatory: Has anti-inflammatory properties
• Hepatoprotective: Has hepatoprotective properties
• Antidiabetic: Used to treat diabetes in Siddha medicine
• Pain relief: Used to treat pain in Siddha medicine
• Leucoderma: Used to treat leucoderma in Siddha medicine
• Skin conditions: Used to treat skin conditions
• Jaundice: Used to treat jaundice
• Tonics: Used as a tonic
• Osteoporosis: Compounds from Curculigo orchioides have been shown to have anti-osteoporosis properties
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