Witnessed by: Unani
Crown flower (Calotropis gigantea), of the Apocynaceae family. Large erect shrub with thick grey-woolly leaves, crown-shaped flowers and copious acrid milky latex; native range: dry wastelands, roadsides and sandy ground of India and Southeast Asia. Globally recognized as madar · aak (post-e-bekh-e-madar, the root bark) in Urdu, aak · madar · safed aak in Hindi, arka in Sanskrit, and crown flower · giant milkweed · giant calotrope in English. The part used is root bark and latex. A pale corky root bark, acrid, bitter and nauseous; the milky latex intensely acrid.
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.
CROWN FLOWER
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- crown flower
- Scientific name
- Calotropis gigantea (L.) W.T.Aiton
- Family
- Apocynaceae
Form
- Part used
- root bark and latex
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Unani
- bitter · acrid
Temperature
- Unani
- hot (3rd degree)
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Unani
- mus'hil (purgative), muqai (emetic in dose), jali (detergent) and muhallil (resolvent); an alterative in small doses
Cautions
- Contraindications
- avoided in pregnancy and in the weak; the dose is small and carefully judged
- Toxicity
- the milky latex is a cardiotoxic, drastically irritant juice — it blisters skin, inflames the eyes, and in overdose the root is a dangerous poison
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