Barleria prionitis

Scientific name: Barleria prionitis L.

Family: Acanthaceae

Synonym: Barleria hystrix L. 

Bengali/Vernacular name: Kanta-janti, Katshareya, Kurantak, Swarnajhinti.

Tribal name: Kural gach, Bisalla koroni (Chakma); Bisailla kuruli (Tanchangya).

English name: Porcupine flower, Barleria.

Description of the plant: A much branched shrub, armed with axillary spines. Leaves elliptic to elliptic-ovate, narrowed, and pointed at both ends. Flowers are yellow and axillary, with the upper ones in spikes. Bracts and calyx are green, with the outer bract usually foliaceous. Corolla is about 4 cm long. Fruit a capsule, 2-seeded, beaked.

Plant parts used: Leaf, stem, bark, flower, and root.

Ethnomedicinal uses: Paste prepared from the roots of the plant is applied to treat boils and glandular swellings.

The juice of fresh bark with milk is given in whooping cough.

A paste prepared from the leaves of the plant is advised to apply on the cutting place for three days to treat bleeding from cutting wound.

A mixture is made from leaf juice, honey, and water, and then it is taken twice a day (two tea spoons amount each time) for three days to treat fever.

A paste is made with the leaves and stems of the plant are applied on the biting place once a day for three days to treat poisonous insect stings.

The leaves, stems, and flowers of the plant are used for viral fever, toothache, inflammation, gastrointestinal disorders, and neurological disease.

Ash of the plant mixed with the honey is a remedy for bronchial asthma.

Juice extracted from the leaves and stems of the plant is given for the treatment of spermatorrhoea.

Distribution:  It is found in Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Natore, Jessore, Kushtia, Dinajpur, and Comilla district in fallow lands.

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