Desmodium gangeticum, Salparni

Salpan, Hooked Hairypod Tickclover
Salparni, Shaliparni, Saal parni (Root, Ayurveda)
Pulladi, Peramalli (Siddha)
Hong Mu Ji Cao (TCM)

Desmodium gangeticum
N. Witsen, H. de Jager, Plantae Javanicae pictae (1700)

Desmodium gangeticum
Blanco, Flora de Filipinas. (1875

Desmodium gangeticum
(Photo by Vinayaraj) (Wikimedia)

Botanical name:

Desmodium gangeticum (syn. Hedysarum gangeticum)
D. latifolium and D. pulchellum have also been used for Salparni.
D. triquetrum is used in Myanmar for Worms, Tuberculosis and Lung infection

Parts used:

Root or Whole herb; Leaf in TCM

Temperature & Taste:

Warm, dry. Sweet, slightly Bitter

Uses:

1. Clears Heat, Resists Poison:
-Fever, Chronic Fever
-Cough, Asthma, Breathlessness, Tuberculosis
-Cerebrospinal Meningitis
-Biliousness
-Psoriasis (TCM)
-Snake Bite

2. Clears Heat, Settles Wind, Calms the Mind:
–Headache, Hemicrania
-Epilepsy
-Psychosis, Depression, Anxiety

3. Moves the Blood, Clears Stasis:
-Amenorrhea, Dysmenorrhea (TCM)
-Contraceptive: 5 grams of the whole plant powder taken daily during menstruation (anti-fertility effect has been demonstrated)
-Chest pain (boiled in Milk, Charaka)
-Heart disease; Cardiomyopathy, Cardiac weakness, Hypertension
-Bruising, Trauma (TCM)
-Cancer: abdominal, colon (Duke)
-Goiter

4. Clears Heat and Damp, Stops Leakage:
-Diarrhea, Dysentery
-Irritable Bowel Syndrome
-Edema, Dysuria
-Diabetes

5. Kills Worms:
-Worms; Helminthic infestation (Ayurveda)

6. Externally:
-leaf poultice for Lumbago
-non-healing Ulcers
-one-sided headache, juice is applied topically, or used as a snuff
-Seed paste is applied to Ringworm
-topically to Toothache (TCM, leaf)

Dose:

Root in Powder: 5–10 grams
Root in Decoction: 10–20 grams (Dose: 50–100 mls.)

Substitutes:

1. Uraria hamosa, U. picta
2. Pseudarthria viscida (in Southern India)
3. Flemingia chappar, F. semialata

Main Combinations:

One of the herbs of the Dashmula group.

1. Diarrhea, Dysentery,
i.. and Fever, Desmodium is often combined with Uraria
ii. Desmodium, Uraria, Betel nut
2. Heart disorders from Wind, Desmodium with Sida, Calamus, Boerhaavia
3. Aphrodisiac and sex tonic:
i. Desmodium, Withania, Asparagus root, Mucuna
ii. Desmodium, Asparagus root, Licorice, Pueraria tuberosa
4. As a longevity tonic, Desmodium, Emblic Myrobalan, Boerhaavia, Centella, Asparagus, Aloeswood, Licorice, with Bhasma of Gold, Silver, Red Coral and Iron (as in Brahma Rasayana)

Major Formulas:

Shatavari Ghirta
Brahma Rasayana

Cautions:

None noted

Toxicity

:
Nontoxic in acute toxicity studies