Plumbago zeylanica is an oldest herb used in ayurveda and a native to
India.
It is an evergreen shrub which is an ornamental plant and has been used in
traditional medicine from thousands of years.
This plant is an evergreen small plant with long and tuberous roots and
straight stems.
The leaves are measured upto 8 cm long, simple, glabrous, alternate,
ovate or oblong with wavy margin and short petiole.
The flowers are white in colour in terminal spikes having tubular calyx
with a slender, hairy corolla tube, with five lobes and five stamens and a
stigma with five branches.
Plumbago requires full sunlight to partial shade with warm temperatures.
This plant thrives in well drained with slightly acidic soil.
The plants require frequent fertilizers and after flowering the plants
should be cut back to let them grow vigorously.
It is cultivated extensively in throughout the India.
Root bark and leaves
The primary constituents of plumbago zeylanica is plumbagin, besides
this 3-chloroplumbagin, 3, 3' -biplumbagin, 3' ,6' -biplumbagin
(chitranone), isozeylanicone, zeylanicone, elliptinone and droserone.
It also contains triterpenes and amino acids.
