Witnessed by: Ayurveda
Black creeper (Ichnocarpus frutescens), of the Apocynaceae family. Slender woody twining climber with milky sap and dark wiry stems; native range: scrub, hedges and open forest throughout the Indian subcontinent and South-East Asia. Globally recognized as shyamalata in Sanskrit, kali dudhi, syamalata in Hindi, and black creeper, black-vine in English. The part used is root. Thin brown root faintly sweet then bitter, with a cool alterative quality and a milky juice in the fresh stem.
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.
BLACK CREEPER
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- black creeper
- Scientific name
- Ichnocarpus frutescens (L.) W.T.Aiton
- Family
- Apocynaceae
Form
- Part used
- root
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- sweet · bitter (madhura, tikta)
Temperature
- Ayurveda
- cooling (shita virya)
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- cools and purifies the blood, alterative, promotes gentle sweating, quiets burning and thirst, mildly diuretic
Cautions
- Contraindications
- well tolerated; cooling, so used sparingly in cold, kapha-laden digestion
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