| Bengali Name : | Jari Ful(জারি ফুল), Kalashona(কালা সোনা) |
| Common Name : | Dwarf Ophiorrhiza |
| Botanical Name : | Ophiorrhiza harrisiana |
| Synonym : | O. rugosa, O. prostrata, Virecta prostrata |
| Family : | Rubiaceae(Coffee family) |
In Bangladesh, this wild flower is only seen at the hilly areas and specially under the shades of large trees or something like that. Botanical name is Ophiorrhiza harrisiana and it belongs to the plant family Rubiaceae. Since this flower is mainly seen at our hilly areas, it has only few tribal names like Jari Ful(জারি ফুল), Kalashona(কালা সোনা), etc.
This is an evergreen small perennial herb plant but to me it looks like a baby plant. I think the leafs are the reason for it's such appearance. Corrugated paired leafs are having variable shapes and lengths even in a single plant, for example, larger elliptical to small ovate shape.
Plant grows under a shade of a larger tree.
Flower are very small, milky white in color, having a shape of a bell and blooms as a cluster. It has five small petals over the small tube/funnel that emerges after the bracts.
Most of the plants from the genus Ophiorrhiza are highly used in medicines. They mainly contain camptothecin alkaloids which is being used to make the agents for Chemotherapy. Aboriginal Chakma(চাকমা) people from Bangladesh were using the extract of roots to cure the dysentery. Another tribe named Marma(মারমা) were using the Leaf's Tea to sooth the body and chest pain since ancient time.
Photos of this article were taken from Khagrachhori(খাগড়াছড়ি) during the rainy season(July) of 2012. It was beside a wide stream and under a large tree.
ফুলের জন্য ভালোবাসা, আমি বুনো ফুল...
Reference:
[1] http://www.mpbd.info/plants/ophiorrhiza-harrisiana.php
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