Witnessed by: Ayurveda
Freshwater mangrove (Barringtonia acutangula), of the Lecythidaceae family. Medium evergreen tree of riverbanks with drooping red flower-spikes and angular fruit; native range: riverbanks, tanks and wet ground across India and Southeast Asia. Globally recognized as nicula · hijjala · jala-vetasa in Sanskrit, hijjal · samundarphal in Hindi, and freshwater mangrove · Indian oak in English. The part used is seed, bark and fruit. A hard ridged fruit with a bitter, pungent kernel; the bark astringent and bitter.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
FRESHWATER MANGROVE
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- freshwater mangrove
- Scientific name
- Barringtonia acutangula (L.) Gaertn.
- Family
- Lecythidaceae
Form
- Part used
- seed, bark and fruit
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- pungent · bitter
Temperature
- Ayurveda
- heating (ushna)
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- kaphahara, expectorant and emetic, krimighna (anthelmintic) and dipana (stomachic); the bark used as a febrifuge
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