Witnessed by: Ayurveda
Wild caper (Capparis sepiaria), of the Capparaceae family. A straggling, much-branched thorny shrub with paired recurved hooks, small leaves, and white flowers; native range: dry scrub, hedgerows and waste ground across the drier parts of India, and on through tropical Asia to Africa and Australia. Globally recognized as hiṃsrā in Sanskrit, hins, kanthari in Hindi, kārttoṭṭi in Tamil, and wild caper, hedge caper in English. The part used is root and root-bark; the leaf outwardly. A tangle of grey thorny branches; the root-bark is pale, bitter and pungent, with a faint sharpness of the caper kind.
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.
WILD CAPER
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- wild caper
- Scientific name
- Capparis sepiaria L.
- Family
- Capparaceae
Form
- Part used
- root and root-bark; the leaf outwardly
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- bitter (tikta) · pungent (katu)
Temperature
- Ayurveda
- heating (ushna)
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- krimighna (kills worms), vishaghna (counters poison), deepana (kindles digestion), shothahara (reduces swelling), kaphavatahara; the leaf ropana (heals) outwardly
Cautions
- Contraindications
- pitta excess and hot conditions; caution in pregnancy
- Toxicity
- the thorns wound and the sap is irritant; the root is not for large or long dosing
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