Witnessed by: Ayurveda · Unani
Marking nut (Semecarpus anacardium), of the Anacardiaceae family. Medium deciduous tree with large leathery leaves; native range: the sub-Himalayan tract and dry deciduous forests across India and Southeast Asia. Globally recognized as bhallataka in Sanskrit, bhilawa in Hindi, baladur (بلادر) in Arabic, and dhobi's nut, oriental cashew, marking nut tree in English. The part used is fruit (the nut, purified). A heart-shaped nut on a fleshy orange cup, oozing a black acrid juice that blisters skin and stains black; the kernel is bland and oily.
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.
MARKING NUT
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Marking nut
- Scientific name
- Semecarpus anacardium L.f.
- Family
- Anacardiaceae
Form
- Part used
- fruit (the nut, purified)
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- pungent · bitter · astringent · sweet
- Unani
- pungent · bitter · acrid
Temperature
Ayurveda: heating (atyushna — intense)
Unani: hot & dry (4th degree)
convergence: both {witness_count} witnesses read a fierce, penetrating heat
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Unani
- brain · nerves · skin
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- dipana-pachana (digestive), bhedana (purgative), krimighna, kushtaghna (skin-clearing), medhya (nervine) and rasayana
- Unani
- muharrik-e-asab (nerve stimulant), muhallil, jali (detergent) and a memory-sharpening tonic
Cautions
- Contraindications
- high pitta and heat states, ulcers, bleeding disorders, pregnancy and the summer heat
- Toxicity
- the unpurified nut and its black juice are fierce vesicants that raise weeping blisters on contact; internal overdose inflames the gut and urinary tract
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