Witnessed by: Ayurveda
Pergularia (Pergularia daemia), of the Apocynaceae family. Twining perennial vine with milky latex and a foetid smell; native range: hedges and wastelands across India, tropical Africa and Asia. Globally recognized as uttamarani, visanika in Sanskrit, utaran, sanagi in Hindi, and veldt swallow-wort, trellis-vine in English. The part used is whole plant, leaves. Soft heart-shaped leaves and greenish hairy flowers; the crushed plant exudes white latex with a disagreeable pungent-bitter reek.
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.
PERGULARIA
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- pergularia
- Scientific name
- Pergularia daemia (Forssk.) Chiov.
- Family
- Apocynaceae
Form
- Part used
- whole plant, leaves
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- pungent · bitter (katu, tikta)
Temperature
- Ayurveda
- heating (ushna)
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- vamana (emetic), kaphaghna (expectorant), bhedana (laxative), artavajanana (emmenagogue), shvasahara (relieves wheezing)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- avoid in pregnancy for its emmenagogue and emetic action; caution in pitta and in the weak
- Toxicity
- large doses irritate the stomach and provoke vomiting; use in measured dose
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