Rosary Pea Abrus precatorius

Transcription

1 Information sources catorius_ subsp. _ africanus.htm Photography Locations Green Business Centre, Hyderabad / iki/fil t i

2 Origin: Northern Australia, South-eastern Asia, Tropical Asia, Western Pacific Naturalized: All tropical regions Cultivated: Widely cultivated t as a garden ornamental Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Fabales Family: Fabaceae Length: 10 m or more

3 Pronunciation: Abrus (AY-brus) precatorius (prek-uh-tor-ee-us)

4 Common names: Jequirity, Crab's Eye, Rosary Pea, John Crow Bead, Precatory bean, Indian Licorice, Akar Saga, Giddee Giddee, Jumbie Bead Hindi : Rati; Gaungchi; Gunchi; Gunja (ग ज ) Bengali : Kunch; Koonch Gujarati : Gumchi; Chanothi Kannada : Gulaganji (ಗ ಲಗ ಜ ) Malayalam : Kunni; Gundumani Punjabi : Mulati Tamil : Gundumani; Kunthamani Telugu : Guruvinda (గ ద)

5 Widespread in most tropical* and sub tropical* areas of India * As marked in red boundary in the Map Habitat : A common weed of roadsides, old gardens, disturbed sites, waste areas A climbing plant with slender twining stems

6 Colorful seeds of Rosary pea are highly poisonous. Even a single seed can be fatal to humans.

7 Stem Older stems are covered in a smooth-textured or wrinkled brown bark Younger stems are generally smooth, pubescent and greenish in color

8 Leaves The alternately arranged leaves (5-13 cm long) are pinnate with 5-17 pairs of leaflets These leaflets (5-25 mm long and 2-8 mm wide) are glabrous, oblong in shape, and have rounded tips

9 Flowers The small whitish, pink, mauve or purplish peashaped flowers (about 10 mm long) are borne in dense slightly elongated clusters Individual flowers have five small green sepals, which are fused together at the base into a short tube

10 Fruit The fruit is a flat and relatively broad pod (20-35 mm long and mm wide) with a sharp point These pods are sparsely covered in hairs and have a rough texture

11 Seeds Each pod, when mature, usually has 3-7 oval-shaped (i.e. ellipsoid) seeds The very distinctive seeds (5-7 mm long and 4-5 mm wide) are bright scarlet-red in color with a large black spot

12 Seeds The colorful seeds are highly poisonous and contain abrin, a toxin similar to ricin but even more poisonous Ingesting even a single seed can be fatal if the seed is cracked open or the protective seed coat is not intact

13 Uses Necklaces and other ornaments made from the seeds are worn by both children and adults

14 Uses Formerly Indians used these seeds to weigh gold using a measure called a Ratti, where 8 Ratti = 1 Masha; 12 Masha = 1 Tola (11.6 Grams)

15 Medicinal Uses A tea is made from the leaves and used to treat fevers, coughs and colds

16 Medicinal Uses In Siddha medicine the white variety is used to prepare oil that is claimed to be an aphrodisiac

17 Medicinal Uses In the Indian System of Medicine, the seeds are used for paralysis, headache, dysentery, diarrhoea, leprosy, ulcer, nervous disorders, alopecia, as well as anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, antibacterial, antitumor and sexual stimulant

18 Medicinal Uses An ethanolic extract of was found to have potent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and analgesic potential

19 Medicinal Uses The plant is also used in some traditional medicine to treat scratches and sores, and wounds caused by dogs, cats, and mice

20 Thank you