Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal

Family: Solanaceae

Synonym: Physalis somnifera L.                             

Bengali/Vernacular name: Aswagandha.

Tribal name: Achothra (Garo).

English name: Winter cherry.

Description of the Plant: An erect herbaceous undershrub, 0.5-1.5 m high; branches terete, hoary tomentose. Leaves 5-10 cm long, ovate, subacute, entire, stellately pubescent.Flowers greenish or lurid yellow, usually about 5 together in a sessile or subsessile umbellate cymes; corolla 8 mm long. Berry red, smooth, 6 mm diam., enclosed in the inflated calyx, which reaches more than 2.5 cm diam.

Plant parts Used: Leaf, root.

Traditional Uses: Powder made from root of the plant is taken with water two times a day to treat cold and cough.
Ashwagandha churna when used regularly helps to improve the conditions like senile debility, rheumatism, in all cases of general debility, nervous exhaustion, brain-fag, low of memory, loss of muscular energy, and spermatorrhea.
A powder made with the dried root of the plant is taken with water two times a day (3 g amount each time) until the rheumatic pain and inflammation of joint is cured.
Regular use of Ashwagandha helps to reduce blood sugar and cholesterol levels.
Fine powder of root well mixed with oil is very use full in many skin conditions.
A paste made with leaves when applied on a local inflammation acts as anti-inflammatory.
Oil extracted from the root is useful in many conditions like paralysis, epilepsy, sleeplessness etc.
The root of the plant is used for the treatment of weakness, impotence, hiccup, and female disorder.

Distribution: Mostly cultivated in Bangladesh.

Is this plant misidentified? If yes, please tell us….