Witnessed by: TCM · Ayurveda · Western · Unani
False daisy (Eclipta prostrata), of the Asteraceae (Compositae) family. Prostrate to ascending annual herb rooting at the nodes; native range: the moist tropics and subtropics worldwide — a creeping weed of paddy margins, ditches and wet ground. Globally recognized as bhringaraja / kesharaja / markava in Sanskrit, bhangra / bhringraj in Hindi, mo han lian (墨旱莲) in Chinese, bhangra in Arabic, and trailing eclipta, ink plant in English. The part used is whole herb (and expressed juice). Rough, hairy stems often purplish, with small white daisy heads; the crushed plant yields a dark, faintly bitter, sap that blackens the fingers.
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.
FALSE DAISY
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- False daisy
- Scientific name
- Eclipta prostrata (L.) L.
- Family
- Asteraceae (Compositae)
Form
- Part used
- whole herb (and expressed juice)
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- sweet · sour
- Ayurveda
- dominant: pungent (katu) · then: bitter (tikta)
- Western
- bitter · astringent
- Unani
- bitter · pungent
Temperature
- TCM
- cool
- Ayurveda
- heating (ushna)
- Western
- cool
- Unani
- hot & dry (2nd degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Liver · Kidney
- Western
- liver · blood · skin
- Unani
- liver · brain · stomach
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- nourishes and tonifies Liver and Kidney yin, cools the blood and stops bleeding, darkens the hair
- Ayurveda
- kesya (hair tonic), rasayana, yakrit-uttejaka (liver stimulant), deepana, keshranjana (hair-blackening), kaphavatahara, twachya (skin)
- Western
- hepatic, alterative, deobstruent, mild tonic; the fresh juice a hair-restorative and application for skin diseases
- Unani
- muqawwi-e-jigar (liver tonic), mufattit, dafe-e-warm, and a celebrated hair-blackening and scalp application
Cautions
- Contraindications
- cold, weak digestion with diarrhoea (its cooling, draining quality can loosen the stool); pregnancy in medicinal doses
- Toxicity
- low; large doses may cause chilliness or mild gastric upset in the cold-natured
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