Digital Garden

Nyctanthus arbor-tristis

Harshingar

Scientific Name: Nyctanthus arbor-tristis

Common Name: Harshingar

Scientific name- Nyctanthus arbor-tristis

Common name- Night Flowering Jasmine, Coral Jasmine, Tree of Sorrow, Queen of the night, Har-singar (in Hindi) and Parijata (in Sanskrit)

Family-    Oleaceae

Habit type- Large shrub or small tree

Geographical Distribution and general features- Nyctanthes arbor-tristis Linn. is a small, sacred ornamental tree used in prayer. It is renowned throughout India for its aromatic white blossoms. The plant is distributed over several regions, namely southern India, northern Pakistan, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Its original habitat is the subtropical Himalayas of Nepal and India. It is a terrestrial, woody, perennial, small tree growing up to 10 m tall, with flaky grey bark. Branches are spreading, rough, twigs tetragonal, having life spans 5-20 years.

Leaves: The large attractive leaves are rough and hairy and margin entire or with a few teeth.

Flower: The sweet scented flowers are small, attractive with white petals and an orange-red tube in center and bloom profusely, opening at night and drop off in the morning, thus making a carpet of flowers in the morning which is used for worship.

Mythological origin of Parijata: Mythological story reveals that, the drug Parijata is a heavenly tree brought to earth by Lord Krishna. A quarrel over it ensued between Satyabhama and Rukmini, Krishna’s wives. But Krishna planted the tree in Satyabhama’s courtyard in a way, that when the tree flowered, the flowers fell in Rukmini’s courtyard.

Medicinal Use: Nyctanthes arbor-tristis has high medicinal values in Ayurveda. The popular medicinal uses are antihelminthic, anti-fungal, anti-oxidant, and anti-pyretic. Also, it is used as a laxative, in rheumatism, skin ailments and as a sedative. It is used to treat malaria and other nauseous fevers, antidote to snake bites, cough, hair growth, high blood pressure and anxiety. The entire plant was widely used for several health applications particularly root and bark were used to treat fever and cough, respectively. Also, the leaf was used for managing fever and diabetes, and its cholagogue, diaphoretic, and anthelmintic properties. Usually leaf, root, flower and seed of Parijata are used in different dosage form, like juice, powder, decoction etc. for various diseases conditions. It is specifically used to pacify the diseases occurring due to vitiation of vata and kapha.