Acalypha indica
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Genus: Acalypha
PLANT NAME IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES
Sanskrit: Harita manjari
Hindi: Kuppi, Kuppikhokhali
English: Indian Copperleaf, Indian acalypha,
Indian nettle, Three-seeded-mercury
Malayalam: Kuppameni, Kuppi, Kuppikhokhali
Habitat _ Occurs throughout the
plains of India, ascending the hills
in Orissa up to 1500 m.
English _ Indian Acalypha.
Ayurvedic _ Kuppi, Muktavarchaa,
Haritamanjari
Siddha/Tamil _ Kuppaimeni.
Folk _ Khokli, Kuppi, Aamaabhaaji.
Assamese Muktojhuri, Patra-manjori
English Indian Acalypha
Irula Kuppagida
Kannada Chalmari
Malayalam Kuppamani, Kuppameni
Others Kuppaimeni, Kuppu, Rudra, Indian Acalypha, Khokali, Kuppameynie
Tamil Kuppaimeni, Naai Kurungu, Kuppaimaeni, Poonamayakki, Naaikurungu
Morphology
Annual herbs, to 60 cm tall; stem striate, pubescent. Leaves 1.2-6.5 x 1-3.8 cm, broadly ovate, base rounded to shortly attenuate, margin crenate-serrate, apex acute or obtuse, basally 5-nerved; petiole 1.5-5.5 cm long. Spikes axillary, 2.5-6.2 cm long, monoecious, rachis ending in a triradiate hood at the tip. Male flowers above, ebracteate, minute, clustered; anthers vermiculiform. Female flowers below subtended by foliaceous, 3-7 mm long, suborbicular-cuneiform, many-nerved, toothed bracts; ovary hispid, 3-lobed; styles 3, each 2-fid. Capsules 3-valved, concealed by bract, hispid.
Flower
In axillary spikes, male flowers above middle, female flowers below the middle; greenish. Flowering throughout the year.
Fruit
A capsule, bivalved, hardly enlarged; seeds subglobose. Fruiting throughout the year.
Field tips
Leaves often greenish with yellow blotches, long petiolate.
Leaf Arrangement
Alternate
Leaf Type
Simple
Leaf Shape
Broadly ovate
Leaf Apex
Acute
Leaf Base
Rounded-attenuate
Leaf Margin
Crenate-serrate
Action
Antibacterial (leaf used in scabies). Plant—emetic, expectorant (used in bronchitis, asthma, pneumonia). Tincture of fresh plant is used in homoeopathy for incipient phthisis with bloody expectorations, emaciation and arterial haemorrhage.
The plant contains kaempferol; leaves and twigs contain acalyphamide and other amides, quinone, sterols, cyanogenic glycoside.
The herb causes intestinal irritati
The herb causes intestinal irritation
