আমাদের বাংলায় নিশিন্দা নামে একটা ঔষধি গাছ আছে... কিন্তু আজকের গাছটার নাম নীল নিশিন্দা, যেইটাকে অনেকে আবার সাগর নিশিন্দাও বলে থাকে... এর কারণ হলো সমুদ্রের পার্শবর্তী এলাকাতে এই গাছের বিচরণ অহরহ দেখা যায়... গাছটা সম্পর্কে আমার খুব বেশি জানাশুনা নাই... সেন্ট মার্টিন বেড়াতে যাবার সময় প্রথম দেখলাম... কারো কাছে যদি তথ্য থেকে থাকে, শেয়ার করুন... বিশেষ করে ঔষধি গুনের কথা যদি কেউ জেনে থাকেন...!
I have never seen this plant before. First time saw it at the St Martin's Island of Bangladesh. The whole island is blessed with this medicinal plant. This use to grow around the coastal area. This is the reason to call it as Coastal Vitex, in Bangladesh which is Sagar Nishinda(সাগর নিশিন্দা). Sagar means Sea in Bengali. This is native to East Africa, but interestingly, widely available at our Coastal territory.
Botanical name of this plant is Vitex trifolia. It belongs to the plant family Lamiaceae. Common names of this wild flower are Arabian Lilac, Coastal Vitex, Chaste Tree, etc. In Bangladesh, it is known as Neel Nishinda(নীল নিশিন্দা), Sagar Nishinda(সাগর নিশিন্দা), etc.
Flower blooms as cluster and the color is violet(sometimes purple). It has two lipped petals(corollas) and two pair of stamens. Flower has slightly hairy stuffs at the upper side. Leafs are normally tri-foliate, but simple leafs are seen at the same plant. Upper face of the leaf is bright green where the other side is dull/grayish green. I have seen this plant is having lush green leafs, but expert says this plant is deciduous.
সামুদ্রিক কোরালের পাশে নীল নিশিন্দার গাছ
This is normally a small sized shrubby plant, but can be seem more than two meters in height sometimes. This plant grows well in dry and sandy condition. Roots are capable of holding the sands easily around it. For it's sand binding ability, this is considered as sand-establishing species. This plant has several medicinal uses, but right now I can not remember those.
Photos of this article were taken from St Martin's Island of Bangladesh. I was traveling there during January 2012.
ফুলের জন্য ভালবাসা, আমি বুনো ফুল...
I have this plant in my garden. I use it for running nose & sinusitis by smoking the dry leaves in pipe, pulling the smoke and release through nostril. Local tradition has it that to prepare curry to feed the newborn mothers to detoxify. Any other person can also eat as curry. Dry leaves are used for the preservation of seed to get rid of insects.
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