Family Name: Acanthaceae
Botanical Name(s): Adhatoda Vasica
Popular Name(s): Malabar Nut, Adulsa
Parts Used: Leaves, Roots, Flowers and Stem Bark.
Habitat: The plant grows in plains & in lower Himalayan ranges upto 1000 m above sea level.
Description: It is a small evergreen, subherbacious bush. The Leaves are 10 to 16 cms in length, minutely pubescent and broadly lanceolate. The inflorescence is dense, short pedunculate, bractate and spike terminal. The corolla is large and white with lower lip streaked purple. The fruit is a 4-seeded small capsule.
Uses: The leaves are rich in vitamin C and carotene and yield an essential oil. The shrub is the source of the drug, well known in indigenous systems of medicine for its beneficial effects, particularly in bronchitis. The leaves, flowers, fruits and roots are extensively used for treating cold, cough, whooping-cough, chronic bronchitis and asthma.