Week and Your Plants – November 20 to 26

Zodiac sign : Scorpio / Vrschika

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Acacia catechu (കരിങ്ങാലി) - Fabaceae

It is a medium sized thorny tree with peeling dark grey bark and a pair of recurved prickles at the base of the leaf stalk. Flowers yellowish white in elongate spikes. Pods flat brown when ripe having flat seeds. Bark and heartwood are very useful. It is used for skin care, gastric issues, colic diseases, cough, diarrhoea, diabetes etc. It is a source of Katha, which is used in north Indian paan and as mouth freshener.

November 20, Monday : Avitam : Prosopis cineraria (വഹ്‌നി ) - Fabaceae

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Thorny trees of costal and dry zones providing fodder, fuel for timber, and shade, as well as affecting soil improvement and sand dune stabilization. Known to be used for Treatment of various ailments like leprosy, dysentery, asthma, leucoderma, dyspepsia and earache etc.

November 21, Tuesday : Chathayam : Neolamarckia cadamba (കദംബം ) - Rubiaceae

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Tall fast-growing trees. Timber and manufacturing paper. Additionally, the sweet-scented flowers are used to make perfume. The paste prepared from the bark of stem and leaf of Kadamba is useful to treat pain, redness and itching due to insect bite.

November 22, Wednesday : Poororutathi : Mangifera indica (മാവ്‌ ) - Anacardiaceae

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A large evergreen tree of multiple utility. For wood, fruit, medicine and more. The fruits are sweet and delicious with high market demand. An infusion of leaves and bark is used as an astringent, and it is applied as a mouth wash for toothache, sore gums, sore throat, and similar affections. The trees are of significance in spiritual functions.

November 23, Thursday : Uthratathi : Borassus flabellifer (പന ) - Arecaceae

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A multipurpose palm for timber, fibre, leaves, fruits etc. The Palmyra palm (Borassus flabellifer) leaves are used for thatching, mats, baskets, fans, hats, umbrellas, and as writing material. Tala (Toddy palm) – Borassus flabellifer is an Ayurvedic plant used for the treatment of general debility. The fermented sap from the tree is popular as toddy or boiled down to make sugar blocks, also known as palm ‘jaggary. The germinating ones are used for edible purpose.

November 24, Friday : Revathy : Madhuca longifolia (ഇലിപ്പ) - Sapotaceae

madhuca longifolia

It is an evergreen multipurpose tree with with dense crown and leaves crowded at branch tips and milky latex, that is very important to the local economy, supplying a range of foods, medicines and other commodities. Flowers and fruits are edible. An oil extracted from the seed is used both as a substitute and an adulterant of ghee. Seeds are used in rheumatism and skin infections.

November 25, Saturday : Aswathy : Strychnos nux-vomica (കാഞ്ഞിരം ) – Loganiaceae

strychnos nuxvomica

It is a medium-sized tree with a dense, rounded crown and opposite shining green leaves which have prominent three to five nerves from base. Fruits with hard rind orange yellow in colour having discoid large grey seeds. It has long been used medicinally, even though it is extremely poisonous in all but the smallest doses. It is a rich source of the alkaloid ‘strychnine’. The seeds are used for the treatment of fever, loss of digestive power, neurological problems, skin problems, cholera etc.

November 26, Sunday : Bharani : Phyllanthus emblica (നെല്ലി ) - Phyllanthaceae

Emblica officinalis

The plant is commonly cultivated in the home garden, especially in India, for its edible fruit and as a medicinal plant. Acclaimed as a good source of vitamin C. Fruits are used for the treatment of haemorrhage, diarrhoea, dysentery, anaemia etc.together with Terminalia chebula (Kadukka) and Terminalia bellirica (Thannikka) it constitutes a well-known Ayurvedic formulation Triphala. Timber also used.