Promotes the appetite and is used in the treatment of diarrhoea, rheumatism and jaundice, for expelling flatulence, for troubles arising from menopause and for various uterine disorders (root); It is used as a female tonic in loss of virility and for debility (decoction of the dried root); in stomach problems and bloody dysentery (infusion of the leaves).
Used to bring on delayed or suppressed menstrual cycle and helps to regulate menstrual cycles (plant); in the treatment of nervous and spasmodic affections, sterility, functional bleeding of the uterus, dysmenorrhoea, asthma and diseases of the brain (leaves and flowering tops); Used in Homeopathy to treat epilepsy, petit mal, hysteria, sleepwalking, dizziness and prolapsed uterus.
For general sexual dysfunction in men and women, sexual dysfunction caused by selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI), and as an adjunct to conventional antidepressants for refractory depression.
As an expectorant, laxative and aphrodisiac (seed); discharges from the uterus (flower); stimulating or restoring normal menstrual function (root bark); sporadic fever and dysentery (seed decoction); applied to various skin lesions and for joints inflamed. It not only increases the contractions of the uterus in labour, but also is useful in the treatment of metrorrhagia, specially when dependent on fibroids; useful also as an ecbolic; of value in sexual lassitude. Seed oil and root bark may cause male sterility.
As a vermicide and in diarrhea (root powder); eye pressure and corneal inflammation (latex); to treat hypertension, headache, and scabies (roots); as an aphrodisiac, and has a reputation of making women more fertile (bark); ophthalmia (juice from the flowers); to alleviate stomach and rheumatic pains, as well as diarrhoea (decoctions of the bark).