An erect, glabrous annual, up to 1 m in height. Stems stout or slender, simple or branched; leaves narrow, entire; flowers white, glistening in feathered, conical to long-oblong spikes; capsules with 4-8 black, shining seeds.

Aphrodisiac (seed); alleviates spasms, hypothermic and antiprotozoal (plant).

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Plants for a Future

Protein, vitamins and carbohydrates (plant); ß-sitosterol, cholesteryl palmitate, 3,5-dihydroxy benzaldehyde, 4-hydroxy benzoic acid, 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid, a-butyl-ß-D-fructoside and sucrose (seeds)

In blood diseases, mouth sores, diarrhea, cataracts and hypertension (seed); on scorpion sting (leaf paste); in blood- dysentery, spitting of blood, menorrhagia and as a parasiticide in trichomonas infection (flowers); in bloody stool, haemorrhoid bleeding, uterine bleeding, leucorrhoea (flower & seed)

Do not use in cases of glaucoma or liver or kidney deficiency because it has a strong heat clearing effect and and can dilate the pupils.

Sharma, Classical Uses of Medicinal Plants.