Withania somnifera

• Botanical Name : Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal
• Synonyms : Physalis somnifera L.
• Common Name : Ashwagandha, Ghodakun, Asandh, Ghoda-Asun, Winter Cherry
• Plant Family : Solanaceae
• Plant Form : Herb
• Occurrence (Sectors) : 15, 17
• Occurrence (Special Areas) : Gujarat Forestry Research Foundation, Indroda Park, Punit Van, Basan

About Withania somnifera Plant :

• Habit : An erect branched undershrub, covered with stellate ashy-tomentum.
• Leaves : Ovate or ovate-lanceolate, apex obtuse, base rounded, ashy tomentose on both sides, petiolate.
• Inflorescence : Umbellate cymes.
• Flowers :
  • Yellowish-green, about 5 together.
  • Calyx small with 5 deltoid sepals.
  • Corolla valvate, bell-shaped, small, lobes 5.
  • Stamens 5, epipetalous.
  • Ovary 2-celled, stigma bifid.
• Fruits : Berry red, enclosed in the inflated calyx, seeds yellow discoid, minutely foveolate.
• Flowering and Fruiting Time : September - November
• Significance :
  • Roots are useful in plague.
  • Leaves are applied on wounds.
  • Roots is regarded as tonic, alternative, aphrodisiac and is used in consumption, rheumatism, lumber pains.
  • It is a narcotic.