Witnessed by: Ayurveda

Skunk vine (prasarani) (Paederia foetida), of the Rubiaceae family. Slender twining perennial climber with opposite pointed leaves and small greyish-purple funnel flowers with a dark throat; native range: the moist tropics and subtropics of India, Bangladesh and Southeast Asia, scrambling through hedges and thickets; naturalised and invasive elsewhere. Globally recognized as prasāraṇī · prasāriṇī · gandhapatra · rājabalā in Sanskrit, gandhaprasarani · pasaran in Hindi, gandhabhadule in Bengali, bhedailata in Assamese, and skunk vine · stinkvine · Chinese fever vine in English. The part used is the whole plant — chiefly the leaf and stem; also the root. Thin wiry stems and soft opposite leaves, releasing a powerful sulphurous, carrion-like stench the moment they are bruised; the taste bitter and acrid, and the smell clings to 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.

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