Gymnema lactiferum

Gymnema lactiferum, the Ceylon cow-tree or Ceylon cow plant, is a species of climbing perennial shrub native to India and Sri Lanka.[1][2] In Sanskrit it is called ksirakakoli. James Emerson Tennent described the use of the plant in his account of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), and wrote it was "evidently a form of the G. sylvestre".[3] The milky juice of this plant has been said to be used as a substitute for milk and cream, but it is believed to contain enough of the poisonous principle peculiar to the order to cast a doubt upon this reputed use.[2]

Ceylon cow-tree
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Apocynaceae
Genus: Gymnema
Species:
G. lactiferum
Binomial name
Gymnema lactiferum
(L.) R.Br. ex Schult.

References

  1. Huber in Abeywickrama (ed.), Revised Handbook of the Flora of Ceylon 1(1): 45 (1973)
  2. Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). "Gymnema" . New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.
  3. http://lakdiva.org/tennent/v1_p1_c03.html#_ftn34
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