Operculina turpethum

Operculina turpethum
in Kawal Wildlife Sanctuary, India.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Solanales
Family:	Convolvulaceae
Genus:	Operculina
Species:	O. turpethum
Binomial name
Operculina turpethum (L.) Silva Manso
Synonyms
Merremia turpethum (L.) Shah & Bhatt.[1]

A plant in the morning glory family, Operculina turpethum (syn. Ipomoea turpethum) is known commonly as turpeth, fue vao, and St. Thomas lidpod.

It is perennial herbaceous, hairy vines growing 4 to 5 meter in length, endemic to India. It is commonly found in North Circars and Deccan region up to 3000 ft. The leaves are alternate, very variable in shape, ovate, oblong and truncate or cordate at the base. The flowers are large, axillary and solitary. Fruit is a capsule with conspicuous enlarged sepals and thickened pedicles.

It is commonly known as^[2]: Indian Jalap, St. Thomas lidpod, transparent wood rose, turpeth root, white day glory • Hindi: निशोथ nisoth, पिठोरी pitohri • Kannada: aluthi gida, bangada balli, bilitigade, devadanti, nagadanti • Malayalam: tigade • Marathi: निसोत्तर or निशोत्तर nisottar • Sanskrit: निशोत्र nishotra, त्रिपुट triputa, त्रिवृथ trivrutha • Tamil: adimbu, சரளம் caralam, சிவதை civatai, கும்பஞ்சான் kumpncan, பகன்றை paganrai • Telugu: తెగడ tegada, త్రివృత్ తెల్లతెగ trivrut tellatega

Uses

It contains glucoside Turpethin and resin similar to Jalap resin. It is used as an herbal purgative and prescribed in Scorpion and Snake bites.

References

1. ^ Merremia turpethum, Medicinal Plants of Andhra Pradesh, Part-1, Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine, New Delhi, 1999, pp: 84.
2. ^ Dinesh walke's photostream on Flickr [1]

External links

Media related to Operculina turpethum at Wikimedia Commons

• USDA Plants Profile
• Caldecott, Todd (2006). Ayurveda: The Divine Science of Life. Elsevier/Mosby. ISBN 0723434107.  Contains a detailed monograph on Operculina turpethum (Trivrit), as well as a discussion of health benefits and usage in clinical practice. Available online at http://www.toddcaldecott.com/index.php/herbs/learning-herbs/337-trivrit

Gallery

• 

  in Kawal Wildlife Sanctuary, India.