Indian Medicinal Plants/Natural Order Cacteæ
N. 0. CACTEÆ
557. Opuntia dillenii, Haw., h.f.b.i., ii. 657.
Syn. : — Cactus indicus, Roxb. 395.
Vern. : — Nág-phanâ. (H. and B.) ; Pheni-mama (B.) ; Chappal-send (Dec.) ; Nâga-dali (Tam.) ; Nága mulla (Mal.) ; Zhorhatheylo (Guz.) ; Phadyâ Nivdung (M.).
Habitat : — A native of South America, quite naturalized, almost a weed in India., in the Konkan, the Dekkan, extending as far north as the Jhelum in the N.-W. Himalaya, "also the Circars, Canara and Madras. "Apparently," says Gamble, Masulipatam was the place where the Cactus was first grown, and the species 0. Dillenii D. C."
A fleshy, perennial, leafless shrub, persistent, jointed. Stem branching, formed of successive joints, which are more or less obovate, mostly flat 1ft. long, bearing at first some minute awl-shaped bodies answering to leaves, which soon fall off, and dense woolly hairs, with tufts of numerous barbed bristles and long, sharp spines also in their axils. Flowers bisexual, regular yellow, tinged with red, open in sunshine and for more than one day, arising from the tufts on the upper edges or sides of the joints. Calyx-tube adnate to the ovary, not prolonged beyond it, lobes numerous on the upper edge and on the hollow receptacle of the Calyx. Petals numerous, widely spreading ; stamens numerous, about half the length of the petals. Stigma 3-fid. Fruit fleshy, obovate or pear-shaped, umbilicate at the top, with spine-bearing tubercles near the apex. The joints strike roots, but it is chiefly spread by birds which eat the fruit and drop the seeds (Brandis).
Uses : — The fruit is considered a refrigerant ; the leaves mashed up and applied as a poultice are said to allay heat and inflammation (Ainslie). In the Deccan, the baked fruit is given in whooping cough (Lisboa).
In Dacca, the milky juice is given as a purgative in doses of ten drops mixed with a little sugar (Taylor).
A syrup of the fruit appears to increase the secretion of bile when given in teaspoonful doses three or four times a day, and to control spasmodic cough and expectoration (Dymock).
The ripe fruit when eaten has the power of dyeing the urine red (Miller).
Said to be useful in gonorrhœa. The hot leaf applied to boils hastens suppuration ; the leaf made into a pulp is applied to the eyes in cases of ophthalmia.
I have used joints warmed up for poultices in guineaworm, abscesses with marked effect (K. R. K.).
According to Leather, the fruit consists of Water, 16-96 per cent ; organic matter 60-64, ash 22-40.
A fruit from Nellore, analysed by David Hooper gave the following results :— Carbohydrates 41.89 ; fibre 32.00 ; albuminoids 6.25 ; fat 3.63 ; Water 5.67 ; and ash 10.56. (Report Indian Museum Laboratory. 1904-5 p. 30).
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