Witnessed by: Western · Unani
Fumitory (Fumaria officinalis), of the Papaveraceae (Fumariaceae) family. Slender straggling annual with finely divided glaucous leaves; native range: Europe, North Africa and western Asia; a weed of tilled ground. Globally recognized as shahtara / pitpapra in Hindi, shahtara (شاهترة) in Arabic, and common fumitory, earth-smoke, wax dolls in English. The part used is flowering herb. Delicate grey-green ferny foliage topped with pink purple-tipped flowers; markedly bitter and slightly saline, the fresh juice acrid to the eyes.
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.
FUMITORY
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Fumitory
- Scientific name
- Fumaria officinalis L.
- Family
- Papaveraceae (Fumariaceae)
Form
- Part used
- flowering herb
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Western
- bitter · salty
- Unani
- bitter
Temperature
- Western
- cold
- Unani
- hot
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- liver · blood · skin
- Unani
- liver · stomach · blood · skin
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Western
- alterative, mild aperient, diuretic, cholagogue and bitter tonic; clears the blood and skin
- Unani
- musaffi-e-dam (blood-purifier), muffateh-e-sudad (deobstruent), mushil-e-safra (purger of bile) and daf-e-humma (febrifuge)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- constipation with dryness; large doses in the debilitated
- Toxicity
- overdose gripes and purges, may lower blood pressure and cause drowsiness
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