Distribution and habitat: Found throughout India and adapted to diverse soil and climatic conditions.

Botany: Perennial climber with terete stem

• Leaf: Imparipinnate; petioles 2-2.5 cm long; stipules 4 mm long, linear and acute; Leaflets 5-7, sub coriaceous, elliptic, oblong, and obtuse, 2.5-5 by 2-3.2 cm
• Flowers: Blue or white,  axillary, solitary, pedicellate, bracts small and linear, bracteoles 6-13 mm long, roundish, obtuse. Calyx 1.3-2 cm long; teeth lanceolate, shorter than the tube. Corolla 3.8-5 cm long
• Fruit: Pods 5-10 cm long, flattened, nearly straight, sharply beaked. Seeds 6-10, yellowish brown, smooth.

Properties: Purgative, diuretic, laxative

Chemical constituent: 

Root- Taraxerol and taraxerone

Seeds- cinnamic acid and anthoxanthin glucoside

Seed oil- Palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic and linolenic acids

Leaf- Glycosides of kaempferol and stigmast-4-ene-3, 6-dione.

Flowers- Blue anthocyanin delphinidin- 3, 5- diglucoside, 6-acylated anthocyanins based on delphinidin along with flavanols

Uses:  Antidote, constipation, ophthalmopathy, tubercular glands, burning sensation, leprosy, leukoderma, elephantiasis, inflammation, bronchitis, asthma, pulmonary tuberculosis, ulcer,  hepatopathy, eruptions, otalgia, hepatopathy, and fever 

Formulations: Garphabala rasa, Visha taila, Somaraji taila.

Propagation: Seeds, calyx regeneration and shoot tip culture