Witnessed by: Ayurveda
Wild Himalayan cherry (Prunus cerasoides), of the Rosaceae family. Deciduous Himalayan tree of the rose kind, shining ringed bark, flowering pink in autumn and winter before the leaves, with a small red drupe; native range: Himalaya from Kashmir through Nepal to Bhutan and into south-west China and northern Burma, 1200–2400 m. Globally recognized as padmaka, padmakāṣṭha, elavāluka (disputed) in Sanskrit, padmakh, paja, payyan in Hindi, and wild Himalayan cherry, bird cherry of the Himalaya in English. The part used is heartwood (padmakāṣṭha); the stem bark also used. A hard, close, red-brown heartwood, bitter and astringent, giving a faint sweet scent when cut or steeped.
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.
WILD HIMALAYAN CHERRY
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- wild Himalayan cherry
- Scientific name
- Prunus cerasoides Buch.-Ham. ex D.Don
- Family
- Rosaceae
Form
- Part used
- heartwood (padmakāṣṭha); the stem bark also used
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- bitter (tikta) · astringent (kashaya)
Temperature
- Ayurveda
- cooling (shita)
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- daha-prashamana (allays burning), jvaraghna (antipyretic), raktashodhaka (blood-cleanser), varnya (complexion-giving), stambhana and garbhasthapana (steadies the pregnancy, in the classical compounds)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- cold, vata-predominant states and weak digestion — the wood is cold, bitter and drying
- Toxicity
- no toxicity recorded for the heartwood in dose
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