Medicinal Monday:

Albizia amara

Bitter Albizia

DESCRIPTION:

Tree, rarely shrubby, 1.5-18 m. high, deciduous; crown rounded or flat; bark fissured, rough; young branchlets with rather short dense spreading grey to golden pubescence. Leaves:  gland on upper side of

petiole low, sessile, up to c. 0.25 mm. high; pinnae 4-46(56)pairs;

leaf­lets 12-48 pairs, 2-5(7.5) X 0.5-1.5(2.5)mm., oblong-linear to linear, symmetric and obtuse or sometimes subacute at the apex, + appressed­pubescent on one or both surfaces or on the margins onlyglabrescent or not later; midrib nearly central (except at the base); lateral nerves not distinct beneath, rarely slighly raised. Flowers white or flushed-pink, subsessile or up to 1.5 mm. pedicellate; bracteoles very caducous, fallen by flowering time. Calyx 1-2 mm. long, puberulous or pubescent outside. Corolla 3.5-7 mm. long, puberulous or pubescent outside. Staminal tube not or scarcely exserted beyond the corolla; filaments c. 0.5-1.2 em. long. Pod apparently indehiscent, 10-28 X 2-5 em., linear-oblong, puberulous over the surface, brown.        Seeds 8-13 X 7-8 mm., flattened.

ECOLOGY: Wooded grasslands, thickets and scrub, often on or near rock;

600-1500 meters.      Usually occurring in small clumps.

COMMENTS:     Subspecies "amara" has usually 4-12 pairs of leaflets that are + glaucous beneath.        Subspecies "sericocephala" has from 14-46 pairs of leaflets which are green and not glaucous beneath.

USES:       The seeds are astringent.      Used in treating piles, diarrhoea, gonorrhoea, leprosy, leucoderma, erysepelas and abscesses. The flowers have been applied to boils, eruptions and swellings.       Also, regarded as an emetic and as a remedy for coughs and malaria. Herbal Powders

We are offering high quality Herbal Powders, which are used to give a lustrous and healthy hair with thick growth. The powders also relive the hair from dandruff and hair fall and are known for natural aromatic smell to the hair. The offered powder is a purely non-chemical Product, which should not be strictly mixed with any other chemical product.

Albizia Amara Powder

The synonyms of the shrub, Kaadduch-Cheeyaakkaay indicate the use of its pods in cleaning hair. Powdered pods and leaves are used so, in the herbal hair cleaning formulas of Tamil Nadu, India. The powder is green in color.

It is more slippery to the touch 

The leaves and pods of serve a natural conditioner for the hair while washing hair.

Used as an Ayurvedic Herb in India. Albizia has a long history of use in Ayurvedic herbal medicine for the treatment of allergic disorders of hair.

Anti-fungal [an agent that destroys fungal conditions]

It reduces heat of the body, it softens the hair, and it’s a very good product for hair.

It is an old method of washing hair. It is very good for hair growth and nourishment.

It has a sweet-smelling fragrance

Its aromatic smell remains naturally in the hair for more than five days.

One of the studies revealed that arappu could soothe the scalp letting the cells to grow around the hair follicles producing a new shoot of hair.

Its froth is said to compete the first class shampoos all over the world when it comes to fragrance and long-lasting odor.

It is very natural and does not have any side effects over timeA

Guides & Rangers do not recommend using any of the plants mentioned for medicinal purposes, without seeking expert medical advice.

Journals consulted: Trees of Southern Africa by Keith Coates Palgrave