Witnessed by: Ayurveda · Western · Unani
Veldt grape (Cissus quadrangularis), of the Vitaceae family. A fleshy leafless climber of four-angled succulent stems, constricted and rooting at the swollen nodes; native range: the drier parts of India, Sri Lanka, Arabia and tropical Africa. Globally recognized as asthisamhari · asthishrinkhala · vajravalli in Sanskrit, hadjod · hadjora in Hindi, hadjod in Arabic, and devil's backbone, bone-setter, adamant creeper, edible-stemmed vine in English. The part used is the fresh quadrangular stem (and whole plant). Bright green, square, jointed stems, crisp and mucilaginous within, with a sour-astringent, faintly acrid sap that pricks the mouth.
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.
VELDT GRAPE
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- veldt grape
- Scientific name
- Cissus quadrangularis L.
- Family
- Vitaceae
Form
- Part used
- the fresh quadrangular stem (and whole plant)
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- sweet (madhura) · astringent (kashaya)
- Western
- sour · astringent
- Unani
- astringent · sour
Temperature
Ayurveda: heating (ushna)
Western: warm
Unani: hot (& dry, 2nd degree)
convergence: the {witness_count} witnesses agree on a gently warming, drying, knitting stem
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- joints · digestion · bowels
- Unani
- stomach · intestines · liver
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- asthisandhanakara (unites fractured bone), vata-kapha-hara, dipana (digestive), balya (strengthening) and shothahara (reduces swelling)
- Western
- bone- and cartilage-healing, analgesic and anti-inflammatory, astringent (for piles and menorrhagia), and digestive
- Unani
- mujabbir-e-izaam (bone-knitter), qabid (astringent), muhallil-e-warm (resolves swelling), and muqawwi-e-meda
Cautions
Contraindications: high pitta and hyperacidity, and heat states, where its warmth may aggravate
Toxicity: the fresh stem's raphides (oxalate crystals) can irritate the throat and skin, so it is usually cooked or juiced; otherwise well tolerated
Interactions
- Western
- antidiabetic agents: may add to blood-glucose lowering
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