Witnessed by: TCM · Ayurveda · Unani
Ceylon leadwort (Plumbago zeylanica), of the Plumbaginaceae family. Straggling perennial subshrub with wiry stems and spikes of white flowers on sticky, glandular stalks; native range: the warm tropics of South and Southeast Asia — Sri Lanka (Ceylon), India and southern China — and naturalised through the Old World tropics. Globally recognized as chitraka in Sanskrit, chitrak in Hindi, bai hua dan (白花丹) in Chinese, sheetraj / shitraj (شيطرج) in Arabic, and white leadwort, wild leadwort, doctorbush in English. The part used is the root and root-bark. A pale, woody root, near-tasteless at first bite, then blooming into a fierce, acrid, biting pungency that heats and blisters — the mark of its plumbagin; the crushed fresh root will raise a weal on the skin.
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.
CEYLON LEADWORT
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Ceylon leadwort
- Scientific name
- Plumbago zeylanica L.
- Family
- Plumbaginaceae
Form
- Part used
- the root and root-bark
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- pungent · bitter
- Ayurveda
- pungent (katu)
- Unani
- pungent · acrid
Temperature
TCM: hot
Ayurveda: heating (atyushna — intensely hot)
Unani: hot & dry (3rd degree)
convergence: all {witness_count} witnesses converge on a fierce, kindling heat — a caustic among the hottest of drugs
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Liver
- Unani
- stomach · liver · uterus
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- disperses blood stasis, reduces swelling, dispels wind-damp and unblocks painful obstruction
- Ayurveda
- dipana-pachana (kindles the digestive fire), grahi (astringing the bowel), lekhana (scraping), krimighna (anthelmintic), shothahara (anti-oedema), vata-kapha-hara
- Unani
- muharrik (stimulant), mohallil (resolvent), mudir-e-haiz (emmenagogue), jali (detergent to the skin), a hot caustic and rubefacient
Cautions
- Contraindications
- pregnancy — a documented abortifacient and strong emmenagogue; high pitta and heat states, bleeding disorders, gastritis, peptic ulcer and acidity
- Toxicity
- the plumbagin-rich root is acrid and vesicant, blistering the skin on contact; internal overdose irritates and inflames the gut and can procure abortion; must be purified and dosed small
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