A very variable, diffusely branched, pubescent or glabrous, prostrate herb with a stout, woody rootstock; stems creeping, often purplish, swollen at the nodes up to 1.2 m long. Leaves long-petioled, ovate or oblong-cordate, entire or sinuate, usually whitish and smooth beneath an rough green on upper surface. Flowers red, pink or white, borne in small umbels arranged in axillary and terminal panicles. Fruit ovate, oblong, 1.3 cm long, five-ribbed, pubescent, viscid, glandular.

Antidote, diuretic, emetic, expectorant, laxative, stomachic.

Herb Information
Plants for a Future
Herbal Monograph

B-Sitosterol, a-2-sitosterol, palmitic acid, ester of b-sitosterol, tetracosanoic, hexacosonoic, stearic, arachidic acid, urosilic acid, Hentriacontane, b-Ecdysone, triacontanol; triacontanol hentriacontane, ß-­sitosterol, ursolic acid, 5,7-dihydroxy-3,4-dimethyoxy-6,8-dimethyl flavone, the rotenoid boeravinones AI, BI, C2 , D, E and F, dihydroisofurenoxanthin, borhavine, punarnavoside, liriodendrin and syringaresinol mono-D-glucoside (roots).

To treat anaemia, oedema, internal abscess, calculi, eye diseases, oedema during pregnancy, haemoptysis, for inducing sleep, fever, rheumatic ailments, difficult labour, vaginal pain, rejuvinative, asthma, oedema, anaemia, jaundice, ascites, anasarca, scanty urine and internal inflammation. It is also an antidote to snake poisoning.

There are no known safety issues or interactions associated with Punarnava when taken in the recommended doses; however, exceeding the recommended doses can cause vomiting. Safety in young children, pregnant or nursing women, or those with severe liver or kidney disease is not known.

Sharma PV. Classical Uses of Medicinal Plants.