Distribution and habitat:  Coromandel Coast.

Botany:  A herb with a creeping root stock. 

• Leaves : 6-24 to a growth smooth above, slightly rough beneath, 10-20 cm long, 2.5-3.8 cm broad, flat, strap shaped or narrowly lanceolate.
• Flowers : Stem 30-75 m high, with 4-5 erect acuminate sheaths 2.5-3.8 cm long on the lower part and a spike like raceme 30-45 cm long of flower clusters above. Bracts 3-4 mm long, lanceolate-attenuate, membranous. Flowers about 4 in a cluster; pedicels 5.0-8.4 mm long; tube 6.3-7.3 mm long; lobes 8.4-9.5 mm long, linear, obtuse.

Properties: Expectorant, anti rheumatic, febrifuge

Active principles: Rhizomes contain Palmitic acid, isorhamnetin‑3‑O‑β‑D‑ glucopyranoside, gallic acid, bupanidrine, caftaric acid etc. It also contains diosgenin and rhein. 

Uses: Biles, heat of blood, gonorrhea, heart diseases, long standing cough, clearing throats of viscid phlegm (in children), itch, leprosy, fever, rheumatism and glandular enlargements.

Formulations: Sudarsan churna and yograj-guggulu

Propagation: By leaf cutting and suckers