Stem : Sticky, thickened at nodes, green or purple covered with soft hair, often cylindrical without ridges and furrows.
Leaves : Fleshy, arranged in unequal opposite pairs, hairy, petiolate, petioles green with a purplish tint.
Inflorescence : Panicles or umbel like clusters in the axils of the leaves or at the end of branches in a bunch of 2-6 flowers.
Flowers :
Bracteate, bracts linear lanceolate but detaching at an early stage.
Corolla pink, 5-lobed.
Stamens 2-3 with white filaments and anthers white and circular.
Style also white.
Fruits : Anthocarps (false fruits) circular and flat, 5-ribbed, glabrous.
Significance :
Found as a wild plant.
It is known to be used in the production of medicine and food.
The root is used as a diuretic to treat jaundice, enlarged spleen, gonorrhea and other internal inflammations. It is also used as stomachic, cardiotonic, hepatoprotective, laxative, anthelmintic (expels parasitic worms), febrifuge (reduces fever), and an expectorant.
