View source for Selaginella bryopteris - Sanjeevani

'''Selaginella bryopteris''' is a magical herb which has the power to cure any malady. It was believed that medicines prepared from this herb could revive a dead person. The herb is mentioned in the Ramayana when Ravana's son Indrajit (Meghnad) hurls a powerful weapon at Lakshmana. Lakshmana is badly wounded and is nearly killed by Indrajit. Hanuman was called upon to fetch this herb from the mount Dunagiri (Mahodaya) in the Himalayas or Valley of Flowers. Upon reaching Mount Sumeru, Hanuman was unable to identify the herb and decided to lift the entire mountain and bring it to the battlefield.

The herb, believed in Ayurvedic medicine to have medicinal properties, has been searched for unsuccessfully for centuries, up to modern times.[1] The Himalayan state of Uttarakhand in northern India committed an initial 250m rupees (£2.8m) of state money to search for sanjeevani booti starting in August 2016. The search was focused on the Dronagiri range of the Himalayas near the Chinese border, even though there is no evidence for its existence.

==Uses==
{{Uses|Wounds}}, {{Uses|Cuts}}, {{Uses|Snakebites}}, {{Uses|Curing liver disorders}}, {{Uses|Skin eruptions}}, {{Uses|Blotches}}, {{Uses|Pimples}}, {{Uses|Diarrhea}}, {{Uses|Sore throats}}

==Parts Used==
{{Parts Used|Dried folaige}}, {{Parts Used|Whole herb}}.

==Chemical Composition==
Chemical investigation of Selaginella chrysocaulos from Northeast India yielded three new (i.e., 1-3) and two known biflavonoids. From Selaginella bryopteris, collected in the southern part of India, one new (11) and eleven known biflavonoids of the amentoflavone- and hinokiflavone-type were isolated and identified<ref name="chemical composition"/>

==Common names==
{{Common names|kn=|ml=|sa=|ta=|te=|hi=|en=Agrimony}}

==Properties==
Reference: Dravya - Substance, Rasa - Taste, Guna - Qualities, Veerya - Potency, Vipaka - Post-digesion effect, Karma - Pharmacological activity, Prabhava - Therepeutics.
===Dravya===

===Rasa===
Tikta (Bitter), Kashaya (Astringent)
===Guna===
Laghu (Light), Ruksha (Dry), Tikshna (Sharp)
===Veerya===
Ushna (Hot)
===Vipaka===
Katu (Pungent)
===Karma===
Kapha, Vata
===Prabhava===

==Habit==
{{Habit|Herb}}

==Identification==
===Leaf===
{{Leaf|Simple||The leaves are divided into 3-6 toothed leaflets, with smaller leaflets in between}}<ref name="Leaf"/>

===Flower===
{{Flower|Unisexual|2-4cm long|Yellow|5-20|Flowers Season is June - August}}

===Fruit===
{{Fruit||7–10 mm (0.28–0.4 in.) long pome|clearly grooved lengthwise, Lowest hooked hairs aligned towards crown|With hooked hairs|}}

===Other features===

==List of Ayurvedic medicine in which the herb is used==
* [[Vishatinduka Taila]] as ''root juice extract''

==Where to get the saplings==
==Mode of Propagation==
{{Propagation|spores}}, {{Propagation|Cuttings}}.

==How to plant/cultivate==
Easily grown in most soils, preferring a calcareous soil. Thrives in a dry lightly shaded position, though it prefers full sun.Plants usually self-sow quite freely when growing in a suitable position. The seeds are contained in burrs that can easily attach themselves to clothing or animal's fur, thus transporting them to a new area where they can germinate and grow.The cultivar 'Sweet scented' is popular in France for making tea because the whole plant is sweet scented and the flowers have a spicy apricot-like fragrance<ref name="How to plant/cultivate"/>

==Commonly seen growing in areas==
{{Commonly seen|Tall grasslands}}, {{Commonly seen|meadows}}, {{Commonly seen|Borders of forests and fields}}.

==Photo Gallery==
<gallery class="left" caption="" widths="140px" heights="140px">

</gallery>

==References==

<references> 
<ref name="chemical composition">[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17193277 "chemical constituents"]</ref>

<ref name="Leaf">[https://web.archive.org/web/20131226161459/http://www.wildflowers-guide.com/39-agrimony.html "wayback machine"]</ref>

<ref name="How to plant/cultivate">[http://practicalplants.org/wiki/Agrimonia_eupatoria "practical palnts"]</ref>
</references>

==External Links==
* [http://ijpsr.com/bft-article/a-review-on-endemic-indian-resurrecting-herb-selaginella-bryopteris-l-bak-sanjeevani/?view=fulltext Selaginella bryopteris on bft article]
* [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S073497501400041X Selaginella bryopteris on science dierct]
* [http://www.academicjournals.org/article/article1380713574_Almeida%20et%20al.pdf Selaginella bryopteris on academicjournals.org]


[[Category:Herbs]]
[[Category:Ayurvedic herbs that don't have flower, fruit and leaf photos]]
[[Category:Ayurvedic herbs that don't have seed photos]]