Tall Chloranthus is a subshrub up to 2 m tall. Stems
are round in cross-section, hairless. Leaves are opposite; leaf-stalk
5-13 mm; leaf blade broadly elliptic or obovate to long obovate or
inverted-lanceshaped, 10-20 x 4-8 cm, rigidly papery, glandular,
hairless, base wedge-shaped, margin sawtoothed, tip gradually narrowed
to with a tail; lateral veins 5-9 pairs. Flowers are borne in spikes at
branch-ends, dichotomously or racemosely branched, rearranged in
panicles, long stalked; bracts triangular or ovate. Flowers are white,
small, stamens 3; connectives confluent and ovoid, not elongate, apical
part 3-lobed. Ovary is ovoid. Fruits are green when young, white at
maturity, obovoid, about 5 mm. Tall Chloranthus is found in the
Himalayas to S China, Indochina, Philippines, Indonesia to New Guinea,
at altitudes of 100-2000 m. Flowering: April-June.
Medicinal uses: Leaves and roots are used as
aphrodesiac, especially for women. In India the juice of the boiled
branches is used as a contraceptive, and the root and the bark acts as
a antispasmodic during childbirth. The leaf extract is considered a
cure for venereal diseases. The plant is also used to treat fever, and
pain killer.
Identification credit: Nidhan Singh
Photographed in Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh & Biswanath Chariali, Assam.
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The flower labeled Tall Chloranthus is ...