Peganum harmala

Peganum harmala

Peganum harmala, commonly called wild rue, Syrian rue, African rue, esfand, or harmel, (among other similar pronunciations and spellings), is a perennial, herbaceous plant, with a woody underground root-stock, of the family Nitrariaceae, usually growing in saline soils in temperate desert and Mediterranean regions.

Uses

Analgesic, Emmenagogue, Abortifacient agent, Anthelmintic

Parts Used

Fruits.

Chemical Composition

Peganum harmala L. smoke has been used traditionally in Middle Eastern and Asian countries as a disinfectant and air purifier. Here, the smoke was collected by a simple, reproducible method, and its chemical constituents of the smoke and volatile oil were analyzed.

Common names

Language	Common name
Kannada
Hindi
Malayalam
Tamil
Telugu
Marathi	NA
Gujarathi	NA
Punjabi	NA
Kashmiri	NA
Sanskrit
English	Wild rue, Syrian rue, African rue, Esfand, or Harmel

Properties

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

Habit

Herbs

Identification

Leaf

Kind	Shape	Feature
Simple	Lobes have smooth margins	1.5–2.5 mm (0.06–0.10 in) long stipules at the base. The leaf blade is dissected/forked twice or more into three to five thin, linear to lanceolate-linear, greyish lobes.

Flower

Type	Size	Color and composition	Stamen	More information
Bisexual		Yellowish white, White		About 2–3 cm in diameter. Greenish veins are visible in the petals. They have a threadlike, 1.2 cm long pedicel. The flowers have five (10-)12–15(−20)mm long, linear, pointy-ended, glabrous, sepals, often divided into lobes, although often entire and sometimes only divided at the end.

Fruit

Type	Size	Mass	Appearance	Seeds	More information
Simple Fruit	Round	6–10(−15) mm in diameter	Light brown		{{{6}}}

Mode of Propagation

Seeds.

How to plant/cultivate

Prefers a light well-drained but moisture retentive soil and an open position in full sun. Prefers a dry soil and succeeds in poor soils. Although this species comes from dry desert areas, it responds well to cultivation so long as the soil is very well drained.

Commonly seen growing in areas

Tropical region.

Photo Gallery

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External Links

• Peganum harmala