Witnessed by: Unani
Balangu (Lallemantia royleana), of the Lamiaceae (Labiatae) family. Erect annual herb of the mint kind with whorled blue-violet flowers; native range: Iran, Afghanistan and the western Himalaya through central Asia. Globally recognized as tukhm-e-balango in Persian, tukhm-e-balango, balangu in Urdu, and balangu seed, lady's mantle seed in English. The part used is seed. Small smooth oblong brown seeds, bland to taste, that sheathe themselves in a thick clear mucilage within minutes of touching water.
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.
BALANGU
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- balangu
- Scientific name
- Lallemantia royleana (Benth.) Benth.
- Family
- Lamiaceae (Labiatae)
Form
- Part used
- seed
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Unani
- bland · mucilaginous
Temperature
- Unani
- cold (1st degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Unani
- lungs · intestines · stomach
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Unani
- mulayyin (laxative), mulattif (demulcent and soothing), musakkin-e-hararat (allays heat), daf-e-atash (quenches thirst), munzij-e-balgham (ripens phlegm), muqawwi-e-meda (stomachic)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- cold and phlegmatic temperaments and cold states of the chest
- Toxicity
- very low; a bulk mucilage — taken dry or with too little water it may burden the gullet and bowel
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