Witnessed by: Ayurveda · Western · Unani
Mudar (Calotropis procera), of the Apocynaceae (Asclepiadaceae) family. Erect greyish shrub of hot dry ground; native range: Dry wastelands of North Africa, Arabia, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. Globally recognized as arka / mandara / raktarka in Sanskrit, aak / madar / safed aak in Hindi, ushar / madar (عشر) in Arabic, and giant milkweed, Sodom apple, king's crown, swallow-wort in English. The part used is root bark, latex, leaves and flowers. Thick woolly grey-green leaves and crowns of waxy purple-and-white flowers over a stem that bleeds a copious, acrid, milky latex on the least wound.
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.
MUDAR
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Mudar
- Scientific name
- Calotropis procera (Aiton) W.T.Aiton
- Family
- Apocynaceae (Asclepiadaceae)
Form
- Part used
- root bark, latex, leaves and flowers
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- pungent · bitter (katu-tikta)
- Western
- acrid · bitter
- Unani
- pungent · bitter · acrid
Temperature
- Ayurveda
- heating (ushna, tikshna)
- Western
- hot
- Unani
- hot & dry (3rd degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- skin · digestion · lungs
- Unani
- stomach · lungs · liver
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- vamaka (emetic) and virechana (purgative) in dose, krimighna, kushthaghna (heals skin disease), shothahara, lekhana
- Western
- in minute dose alterative, diaphoretic, expectorant and vermifuge; the latex a caustic and the root an emetic-purgative
- Unani
- mushil (purgative), muqayyi (emetic), jali (detergent), mohallil (resolvent), akkal (caustic)
Cautions
Contraindications: pregnancy, high pitta and heat states; internal use only in minute, guarded dose
Toxicity: the latex and bark hold cardioactive glycosides (calotropin, uscharin); the milk is severely irritant and can blind if it reaches the eye; overdose brings vomiting, purging, slow pulse, convulsions and death
Interactions
- Western
- cardiac glycosides: contains cardioactive glycosides — additive, potentially toxic effect with digitalis-type drugs
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