Distribution and habitat: Found throughout India.

Botany:  A procumbent perennial herb upto 1 m in height with stems rooting at the lower nodes. 

•  Leaves : Simple, opposite, sub sessile, linear-oblong, oblanceolate, scabrous with short white hairs.
•  Flowers: Yellow in tetragonous rayed axillary or terminal heads.
• Fruits: Truncate compressed or tubercled achene’s without pappus or with a ring of round scales.

Properties:  The plant is astringent, bitter, acrid, thermogenic, anti-inflammatory, anti microbial, cardiotonic,   alterative, anticephalalgic, aphrodisiac, sudorific, and febrifuge.

Chemical constituents:  Essential oil from the plant contains limonene and α-pinene. Tridecanol, 1-Heptatriacotanol, c Sitosterol, Oleic acid, stearic acid, 1,2 Benzene dicarboxylic acid

Uses: Plant is used in inflammations, elephantiasis, otalgia, cephalalgia, ulcer, wounds, nyctalopia, dysopia, hepatosplenomegaly, seminal weakness, baldness and greyness of hair, colic and anaemia.

Formulations: Nilabhringaditailam, Narasimharasayanam

Propagation: Stem cutting, seeds