Calamus rotang

Botanical name : Calamus rotang Linn.
Family : Arecaceae

SANSKRIT SYNONYMS
Vetra

AYURVEDIC PROPERTIES
Rasa : Kashaya, Katu, Tikta
Guna : Lakhu
Virya : Seeta

PLANT NAME IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES
English : Rattan
Hindi : Beth, Bemth
Malayalam : Chooral

Distribution – Growing naturally in the forests of Western Ghats, also in the forests of central and south India.

PLANT DESCRIPTION
A large spreading slender shrub with round yellowish stems. Leaves sheath glabrous below hollowed, truncate, with short ochrea, rachis near the base flat and smooth, leaflets numerous, 1 ribbed; flowers unisexual, spadix very long, female flowers scatted along the branched of spadix; fruits in minute perianth, sub globose, pale yellow.

MEDICINAL PROPERTIES
Plant pacifies vitiated pitta, chronic fever, skin diseases, pruritus, burning sensation, cough, bronchitis, inflammation, calculi and general debility.
Useful part : Fruits, seeds, petals, fruit extracts.