FoI
Indian Fagonia
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Indian Fagonia
P Native Photo: Siddarth Machado
Common name: Indian Fagonia , khorasan thorn • Gujarati: ધમાસો dhamaso • Hindi: धमासा dhamasa, दमहर damhar • Kachchhi: ધમાસો dhamaso, ધ્રામાઉ dhramau • Kannada: ನೆಲ ಇಂಗಳಿ nela ingali • Marathi: धमासा dhamasa • Punjabi: ਦਮਾਂਹ damanh, ਦਮੀਯਾ damiya, ਧਮਾ dhama • Rajasthani: धमासा dhamasa • Sanskrit: धन्वयवास dhanvayavasa • Telugu: చిట్టి గార chittigara • Urdu: دھماں dhamas Source: Names of Plants in India
Botanical name: Zygophyllum indicum    Family: Zygophyllaceae (Caltrop family)
Synonyms: Fagonia indica, Fagonia parviflora, Fagonia mysorensis

Indian Fagonia is a small spiny shrub, covered with whitish powdery or stalkless glands or hairless shrublet. Stem basally somewhat woody, branches procumbent or erect, cylindrical, striped, internodes 2.5-5 cm long. Leaves mostly simple or basal ones trifoliolate and upper simple, leaflets linear-oblong or lanceshaped, 6-35 mm long, 3-4 mm broad, mucronate, short to long leaf-stalkd or stalkless; stipular spines awl shaped, patent to ascending, equal to shorter than leaves, occasionally deficient or minute. Flowers are about 1.2 cm across, pinkish-purple; flower-stalk 4-6 mm long. Sepals ovate, about 3-4 mm long, about 1.5 mm broad, glandular outside, pointed, persistent. Petals are spoon-shaped, about 6 mm long, about 3 mm broad, blunt. Stamens with about 6 mm long filaments. Capsules are 3-4 mm long and broad, velvet-hairy, stalk equal to about twice as long as fruit. Indian Fagonia is found in Indo-Pakistan subcontinent westwards to North and East tropical Africa in arid and semi-arid regions.
Medicinal uses: The aqueous decoction of aerial parts of the plant is a popular remedy against various skin lesions, including cancer, in folk medicine.

Identification credit: Siddarth Machado Photographed in Anantapur District, Andhra Pradesh.

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