Witnessed by: Ayurveda
Siamese rough bush (Streblus asper), of the Moraceae family. Gnarled evergreen shrub or small tree with rigid sandpapery leaves; native range: the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, in dry deciduous scrub. Globally recognized as shakhotaka · prakirya in Sanskrit, siora · sahora in Hindi, and Siamese rough bush · sandpaper tree · toothbrush tree in English. The part used is bark, root bark, latex, leaf. Rough harsh leaves, a fissured bark that bleeds white latex, astringent and bitter.
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.
SIAMESE ROUGH BUSH
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Siamese rough bush
- Scientific name
- Streblus asper Lour.
- Family
- Moraceae
Form
- Part used
- bark, root bark, latex, leaf
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- astringent · bitter (kashaya , tikta)
Temperature
- Ayurveda
- heating (ushna)
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- kaphavata-hara, shothahara (resolves swelling), lekhana (scraping, reduces fat and glands), krimighna, vranaropana
Cautions
- Contraindications
- the hot scraping drug avoided in high pitta and in the lean and depleted
- Toxicity
- the bark bears cardiac glycosides and is not given in large doses
This is the card. Sign in for the full four-tradition entry — the aligned TCM · Ayurveda · Western · Unani reading, actions, dosing and cautions.