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Sarphonk [Tephrosia purpurea (Linn.) Pers.]

Pankaj Oudhia
Society for Parthenium Management (SOPAM)
28-A, Geeta Nagar, Raipur - 492001 India
pankaj.oudhia@usa.net
www.pankajoudhia.com

Scientific Name: Tephrosia purpurea (Linn.) Pers.
Family: Fabaceae.
English Name: Wild Indigo
Hindi Name: Sarphonk, Sharpunkha.

General Description: It grows as common wasteland weed. It is used traditionally as folk medicine. In many parts it is under cultivation as green manure crop.

Botanical differences among major Tephrosia species of India.

Characters	T. purpurea	T. falciformis	T. leptostachya	T. strigosa	T. subtriflora	T. uniflora	T. villosa	T. wallichii
Synonyms	Cracca purpurea		T. purpurea var. leptostachya; T. incana	T. tenuis, Macronyx strigosus	T. multiflora	T. pauciflora	Galega villosa; T. hirta
Plants	A much branched, erect, Perennial herb	A rigid, perennial, much branched shrub	A straggling or diffuse, annual herb, woody at base	A copiously branched, more or less errect slender, annual herb	A perennial herb, much branched form a woody base	A suffruticase perennial, profusely branchedd from the base	Annual gregarious, erect bushy herb	An erect or rarely at length with 3-7 spreading branches
Stem	More or less hairy	Angular, desenly pubescent or adpresed white silky	Slender, wiry, pubescent	Filiform, adpressedly hairy	Erect or ascending, stiff, slender, more or less angular	Erect, diffuse or procumbent, thin, angular, adpressdly grey-pubescent	Angular, densely hairy with white or greenish hairs	Woody with short, dense, grey, spreading pubescence
Leaves	Upto 13 cm long; Stipules lanceolate, linear-subulate, erect or reflexed, hairy, triangular	Imparipinnate; stipules linear, persistent	6-8 cm long, stipules 2-5 mm long, subulate, spreading	Unifoliolate, linear or elliptic	imparipinnate, stipules subulate	3-8 cm long, stipules subulate silvery hairy	Imparipinnate, 7-8 cm long, stipules lanceolate	Imparipinnate, stipules subulate
Flowers	Reddish-purple, on terminal or leaf opposed peduncles	Purple-red	Few on 6-7 cm long peduncle, bright pink	Single or germinate in all axils, bluish or bluish purple	In axillary, 1-6 flowered fascicles, Pale pinkish	Axillary, solitary or often germinate, Rose or purple red	Large, red, in lax racemes	Bright pink-purple
Pods	Slightly recurved, glabrous or softly pubescent, 5-6 seeded	5-10 cm long, falcate or rarely circinate, densely pubsecent all over	usually inpairs, slightly curved towards the tip, slightly pubescent. 7-9 seeded	Turgid, thinly adpressefly pubescent, 6-10 seeded. Seeds suborbicular	Turgid, highly curved, 6-8 seeded, densely hairy with spreading hairs, seeds ovoid	Linear, curved, cuspidate, silvery white, 7-9 seeded, seeds subcylindric	Reflexed, falcately curved upwards, 6-8 seeded, with blister marking	6-7 seeded, slightly troulose and depressed between the seeds, seeds reniform
Flowering & Fruiting	July-Dec. in Indian conditions	Aug-Oct. in Indian conditions	Aug.-Oct. in Indian conditions	Aug. - Oct. in Indian conditions	Aug.-Nov. in Indian conditions	Sept.-Nov. in Indian conditions	Nov.-Feb. in Indian conditions	Aug.-Dec. in Indian conditions

Useful Parts: Root, leaves, seeds and bark.

Traditional Medicinal Uses: According to Ayurveda, plant is digestible, anthelmintic, alexiteric, antipyretic, alternative, cures diseases of liver, spleen, heart, blood, tumours, ulcers, leprosy, asthma, poisoning etc. According to Unani system of medicine, root is diuretic, allays thirst, enriches blood, cures diarrhea, useful in bronchitis, asthma, liver, spleen diseases, inflammations, boils and pimples; Leaves are tonic to intestines and a promising appetizer. Good in piles, syphilis and gonorrhoea.

Other Uses
Checks the soil-erosion.
Leaves are used as fodder.
Seeds can be used as substitute to Coffee.
Fixes nitrogen.

Internet Resources
Traditional Medicinal Knowledge about medicinal herbs Koha (Terminalia arjuna) and Sarphonk (Tephrosia purpurea) in Chhattisgarh plains, India http://botanical.com/site/column_poudhia/64_koha.html

Traditional medicinal knowledge about useful herb Katoriya or Vajradanti (Barleria prionites, family : Acanthaceae) in Chhattisgarh, India http://botanical.com/site/column_poudhia/140_katoriya.html

Interaction with herb vendor Mr. Sohan Lal and his friends having rich traditional medicinal knowledge about common herbs found in Chhattisgarh, India http://botanical.com/site/column_poudhia/131_SohanLal.html

Interactions with the traditional healers and natives of Janjgir region, Chhattisgarh, India having rich traditional medicinal knowledge about common herbs http://botanical.com/site/column_poudhia/116_janjgir.html

Traditional medicinal knowledge about common herbs used to prepare herbal tooth brushes Dataun (Daton) in Chhattisgarh, India http://botanical.com/site/column_poudhia/39_toothbrush.html

References
Agharkar, S.P. (1991). Medicinal plants of Bombay presidency. Pbl. Scientific Publishers, Jodhpur, India : 209-210.
Bhandari, M. M. (1990). Flora of the Indian desert. Pbl. MPS Repros, Jodhpur, India : 118-123.
Sastry, CST and Kavathekar, K.Y. (1990). Plants for reclamation of wastelands. Pbl. CSIR, New Delhi, India : 402-405.

Resource Person
Pankaj Oudhia
Society for Parthenium Management (SOPAM)
28-A, Geeta Nagar, Raipur - 492001 India
pankaj.oudhia@usa.net
www.celestine-india.com/pankajoudhia