Witnessed by: Ayurveda
Dronapushpi (Leucas cephalotes), of the Lamiaceae family. Erect stout annual herb with whorled woolly flower-heads; native range: plains of the Indian subcontinent, a common weed of fallow fields. Globally recognized as dronapushpi in Sanskrit, guma, gopha in Hindi, and guma, thumba, spider-wort in English. The part used is flowers and whole aerial plant. Coarse square stems and pungent, faintly camphoraceous foliage; the crushed leaf is acrid and warming on the tongue.
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.
DRONAPUSHPI
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- dronapushpi
- Scientific name
- Leucas cephalotes (Roth) Spreng.
- Family
- Lamiaceae
Form
- Part used
- flowers and whole aerial plant
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- pungent · bitter (katu, tikta)
Temperature
- Ayurveda
- heating (ushna)
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- jvaraghna (fever-breaking), dipana (digestive kindler), krimighna (anthelmintic), kaphaghna (expectorant)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- caution in pitta-predominant states and in bleeding tendencies owing to its heating nature
- Toxicity
- well tolerated at food-like doses; large amounts may irritate the stomach
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