J. Econ. Taxon. Bot. Vol. 28 No.

2 (2004)

MEDICINAL WEEDS OF VARANASI DISTRICT (UTTAR PRADESH)

Ajai Kumar Singh, Priyanka Singh & Smriti Srivastava

Department of Botany, Udai Pratap Autonomous College, Varanasi 221 002 (U.P.S, India.

ABSTRACT
The present communication deals with the medicinal weeds of Varanasi district.
In all 89 species belonging to 75 genera and 43 families are enumerated along
with their family, brief description and medicinal use.

INTRODUCTION

Weeds are one of the major biological
agents affecting the productivity of crops.
Often weeds are defined as any useless or
troublesome plant which occurs without
intentional cultivation (Jackson, 1928).
Usually they interact (ecologically and
physiologically) with the cultivated crops in
agroecosystems especially in respect of
their nutrition, growth as well as
production. Botanically speaking, weeds
are undesirable plants that compete with
economically valuable plants for space,
water, sunlight and soil nutrients, and if
their growth is not checked cause serious
loss in crop production. Weeds are also
indirectly responsible for crop losses as
they act as hosts for plant pests such as,
viruses, fungi and insects. Some of the
weeds are allergic and fatal to human and
animal beings. But several known weeds
have been put to certain economic uses
since ages. Of these their medicinal use is
the most ancient one in India. Workers like
Jain & Saran (1961), Firie (1970), Datta &
Banerjee (1978), Singh & Singh (1983),
Agarwal (1986), Singh et al. (1987), Neogi
et al. (1989), Ambasta (1992), Swami &
Gupta (1996), Kaushal et al. (1997), Khan
& Khan (1997), Pandey et al. (1998),
Thomas & Britto (2000), Gogoi & Dash
(2003), Khan et al. (2003) and others have
also reported that weeds have some
medicinal properties and they can be
exploited for the welfare of human society.
Enlightened with economic potential of
certain weeds, some people tend to define
weeds as, “plants for which economic uses
are yet to be discovered.”
Varanasi lies at 25° 18' N latitude and
83°T E longitude in the middle of the
Gangetic plain at an average height of
about 80.71 meters above sea level, with
even topography. The climate of the
Varanasi district is tropical monsoonic type
and is divisible into hot and dry summers
(March-June), warm and moist rainy
season (July-October) and dry Cold winter

263
Singh, Singh & Srivastava
season (November-February) with few
sporadic showers.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
While working on Weed flora of
Varanasi district during 2001-2003,
different parts of the study area were
visited many times and collected different
weeds of which voucher herbarium
specimens were prepared. The collected
plants were identified with the help of
herbarium and experts at BSI, Allahabad.
Medicinal uses of the weeds were confirmed
with the help of standard literature and
local farmers. In all 89 weed species
belonging to 75 genera and 43 families
were recorded medicinal from the study
area.
The Medicinal Weeds of Varanasi
District are enumerated below in an
alphabetical order with their family, brief
description and medicinal use.
ENUMERATION OF THE SPECIES
Abutilon indicum L. Sweet (Malvaceae)
Description : An erect undershrub. Flowers
orange-yellow, solitary, axillary. Carpels black
at maturity, reniform, stellately hairy. Seeds
black.
Medicinal use : Febrifuge, anthelmintic,
alexiteric, bronchitis, aiarrhoea, aphrodisiac and
laxative.
Achyranthes aspera L. (Amaranthaceae)
Description : Erect, branched, pubescent
herb, 30-120 cm tall. Flowers pink in terminal
spikes. Utricles 2.5 x 1 mm, oblong-cylindric,
truncate at the apex, enclosed in the hardened
spinescent tepals.
Medicinal use : Purgative, astringent,
diuretic. Root used in Pyorrhoea.
Ageratum conyzoides L. (Asteraceae)
264
Description : An erect hispid annual herb.
Head homogamous, white or violet in corymbs.
Cypsela glabrous or thinly hairy.
Medicinal use : Antidysenterie
Altemanthera sessilis (L.) R. Br. ex DC.
(Amaranthaceae)
Description : Much-branched, prostrate
glabrous herb. Flowers sessile, white. Utricle
orbicular, compressed, 1.5-2 mm long, dark
brown.
Medicinal use : Leaves used in diarrhoea
and dysentery.
Amaranthus spinosus L. (Amaranthaceae)
Description : Erect or diffuse spinous herb.
Flowers sessile, in axillary clusters, or in
terminal and axillary spreading spikes. Capsule
ovoid, circumcissile. Seeds black.
Medicinal use : Stomachic, Galactagogue
Anthelmintic and Expectorant. Root extract in
diarrhoea.
Amaranthus tricolor L. (Amaranthaceae)
Description : A prostrate or sub-erect, green
or purple, glabrous, annual herb. Leaves 7-18cm
long, long petioled, rhomboid or deltoid-ovate.
Flowers green or purple. Seeds black.
Medicinal use : Stomachic
Ammania baccifera L. (Lythraceae)
Description : An erect herb up to 60 cm.
high. Leaves shining green above, pale and
minutely glandular punctate beneath. Flowers
green, in dense, axillary clusters. Seeds black.
Medicinal use : Leaf juice in fever.
Andrographis paniculata (Burm. f.) Wall, ex
Nees (Acanthaceae)
Description : A glabrous annual herb up to
1 m high. Flowers purple with white spots.
Capsules 1.2-1.7cm long, with glandular hairs.
Seed yellowish brown.
Medicinal use : Anthelmintic,
anti-inflammatory and antipyretic.
 J. Econ. Taxon. Bot. Vol. 28 No. 2 (2004)

Anagallis arvensis L. (Primulaceae) Medicinal use : Leaves used in toothache.

Description : An erect or procumbent, Chenopodium album L. (Chenopodiaceae)
glabrous annual herb. Leaves ovate or oblong- Description : An erect branched, annual
ovate. Flowers blue. Capsule globose, dehiscing herb. Leaves oblong-lanceolate. Flowers green.
transversely. Seeds minute, trigonous. Fruit an utricle. Seeds blackish-brown, smooth.
Medicinal use : Genital diseases and Medicinal use : For hook-worm and skin
hydrophobia. diseases.
Argemone mexicana L. (Papaveraceae) Cleome viscosa L. (Cleomaceae)
Description : An erect annual herb with Description : An erect, branched,
yellow sap. Leaf segments spiny. Flower yellow. viscid-glandular hairy, annual herb. Leaves 3-5
Capsule oblong or elliptic, prickly, dehiscing by foliate. Flowers yellow, solitary axillary, forming
valves. Seeds numerous, blackish brown. terminal corymbose racemes. Capsule 4- 10cm
Medicinal use : Anthelmintic diuretic, long. Seeds reniform, purplish-brown, ribbed.
expectorant and Purgative. Medicinal use: Antispasmodic, astringent,
Blumea lacera (Burm. f.) DC. (Asteraceae) diuretic, laxative and stomachic. Leaf juice in
ear-ache.
Description : An erect, aromatic, somewhat
. viscid annual herb. Leaves obovate-oblong or Clerodendrum viscosum Vent. (Verbenaceae)
elliptic, glandular and densely hairy, Heads Description : A small shrub with yellowish
yellow. Receptacle glabrous. Cypsele grey. white tomentum. Flowers white. Drupe black
Medicinal use : Leaf juice in fistula. Seeds when ripe, with persistent red calyx.
for fever and respiratory diseases. Medicinal use : Antimalarial, febrifuge and
Boerhavia diffusa L. (Nyctaginaceae) against snakebite.
Description : A diffuse, branched, procum­ Commelina benghalensis L. (Commelinaceae)
bent or sub-scandent, herb. Leaves unequal in Description : A diffuse or sub-erect,
pairs. Flowers pink. Fruit clavate, ribbed, glabrescent herb. Flowers blue in axillary 1-3
viscidly glandular. funnel-shaped spathe. Capsule pyriform. Seeds
Medicinal use: Diuretic, anti-inflammatory. oblong.
Root extract in jaundice. Medicinal use : Leaves in eye trouble and
fruits as laxative.
Centella asiatica (L.) Urb. (Apiaceae)
Corchorus aestuans L. (Tiliaceae)
Description : Prostrate, perennial herb with
runners. Leaves orbicular or reniform. Flowers Description : An erect or sub-erect annual
sessile in axil of small bracts. Fruits herb. Flowers yellow in leaf opposed cymes.
compressed, shallowly 2-lobed. Seeds brown. Bracts filiform. Capsule cylindric, 6-angled;
beak 3-fid. Seeds dark brown truncate.
Medicinal use : Antipyretic, Diuretic and
Laxative Medicinal use Leaves in diarrhoea and
seeds in stomachache.
Centipida minima (L.) A. Br. et. Ascher.
Cuscuta reflexa Roxh. (Cuscutaceael
(Asteraceae)
Description : A leafless greenish yellow,
Description : A prostrate, glabrous, annual
herb, spreading from the root. Leaves sessile. glabrous, stem parasite. Flowers pale-white,
fragrant. Capsule depressed-globose, circumsci-
Heads yellow, axillary, solitary. Cypsele
4-angled. Pappus absent. ssile near the base.

265
Singh, Singh & Srivastava
Medicinal use : Astringent, carminative and
purgative. Decoction of stem in fever.
Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. (Poaceae)
Description : Stoloniferous perennial with a
slender, erect, 10-30 cm tall culms. Rooting at
the nodes. Leaves 3-8 cm long, linear,
lanceolate. Ligule a narrow ciliate rim. Spikes
terminal, digitate. Spikelets awnless, laterally
compressed. Caryopsis oblong.
Medicinal use : Antiseptic. Leaf juice in
amoebiasis and diarrhoea.
Cyperus kyllinga Endl. (Cyperaceae)
Description : A glabrous and slender sedge,
10-20 cm tall. Leaves 5-10 cm long, linear,
glabrous. Spikelets 1-flowered. Nuts obovate or
oblong-obovoid, blackish brown.
Medicinal use : Astringent. Decoction of
tuber in fever.
Cyperus rotundus L. (Cyperaceae)
Description : An erect glabrous, perennial
sedge. Spikelets 3-10 together, brown in an
umbel. Rachilla winged, persistent. Nuts ovoid-
oblong, brownish to black.
Medicinal use : Astringent and diaphoretic,
decoction of tubur in fever.
Desmodium gangeticum (L.) DC. (Fabaceae)
Description : An erect or decumbent under
shrub. Leaves simple. Flowers white or pink.
Pods 6-8 jointed.
Medicinal use : Anticatarrhal, antipyretic
and astringent.
Desmodium triflorum DC. (Fabaceae)
Description : A creeping, prostrate herb.
Leaves 3-foliolate. Flowers pin’... Pods flat, 3-5
jointed. Seeds brown.
Medicinal use : Galactagogue. Leaf juice in
dysentery.
Digera murieata (L.) Mart. (Amaranthaceae)
Description : Erect herb with spreading
branches. Flowers pink in axillary spikes. Fruit
266
with persistent style base. Seeds globose,
smooth, yellowish-brown.
Medicinal use : Laxative
Eclipta prostrata (L.) Mant. (Asteraceae)
Description : A prostrate or procumbent or
sub-erect, branched, hairy, annual herb. Heads
axillary or terminal, white, heterogamous.
Cypsele oblong-turbinate. Pappus absent.
Medicinal use : Alterative, alexipharmic and
anthelmintic. Plant juice in jaundice.
Elephantopus scaber L. (Asteraceae)
Description : An erect sub-scapose,
appressed pubescent perennial herb with
creeping rhizome. Leaves in rosette. Heads
violet or purple, terminal cypsele ribbed.
Medicinal use : Alexipharmic, analgesic,
antipyretic, antiseptic and diuretic.
Euphorbia dracunculoides Lamk.
(Euphorbiaceae)
Description : Erect, 1-5 cm. high, dichoto-
mously branched annual. Leaves opposite
sessile. Cyathia sub-sessile, green, solitary at
the fork of the branches. Capsule smooth. Seeds_
oblong, grooved on one side.
Medicinal use : Latex in skin diseases.
Euphorbia hirta L. (Euphorbiaceae)
Description : An erect, ascending or
prostrate; green or brick red hispid herb. Leaves
elliptic oblong, unequal sided, serrulate. Cyathia
axillary and terminal. Capsules appressed,
pubescent. Seeds trigonous, reddish brown.
Medicinal use : Bronchitis, cough, cold and
dysentery.
Euphorbia hypericifoiia L. (Euphorbiaceae)
Description : Erect or procumbent, slender,
glabrous, annual herb up to 60cm high. Leaves
broadly oblong, elliptic, base oblique. Cyathia
pink in axillary and terminal clustered cymes.
Capsule erect appressed. Seeds ellipsoid,
4-angled.
Medicinal use : Diarrhoea and dysentery.
 J. Econ. Taxon. Bot. Vol. 28 No. 2 f2004)

Euphorbia thymifolia L. (Euphorbiaceae) Medicinal use : Diuretic. Decoction of root in

cough and fever.
Description : A prostrate pubescent herb.
Leaves oblique-oblong, base rounded. Flowers Hygrophila auriculata (Schumach.) Heine
greenish, minute, axillary. Capsule obtusely (Acanthaceae)
keeled, pubescent. Seeds quadrangular with Description : An erect, hispid herb with
transverse furrows. spines at the nodes. Leaves sessile, in the form
Medicinal use : Diarrhoea. Seeds used as of whorl at the node, lanceolate. Flowers bluish
laxative. purple. Capsule linear oblong, pointed glabrous.
Seeds 4-8, hairy.
Evolvulus alsinoides (L.) L. (Convolvulaceae)
Medicinal use : Jaundice.
Description : A diffuse densely hairy herb.
Leaves sessile or sub-sessile, silky hairy bene­ Imperata cylindrica (L.) Beauv. (Poaceae)
ath. Flowers blue. Capsules globose, 4-seeded, Description : An erect slender grass, 45-75
hairy. cm tall with creeping root stock. Leaves linear,
Medicinal use : Alexipharmic acuminate; ligule membranous. Panicles
cylindrical, silky white hairy. Caryopsis small,
Fumaria indie a (Hassk.) Pugsley
(Fumariaceae) oblong.
Medicinal use : Rhizome in jaundice.
Description : A diffuse branched annual
herb. Leaves multifid. Flowers pink in lax Launaea asplenifolia (Willd.) Hook. f.
racemes. Capsule globose with two pit at the (Asteraceae)
top. Seed one. Description :■ A glabrous herb with milky
Medicinal use : Diuretic. latex. Leaves sinuate lobed or pinnatifid. Heads
yellow terminal on long naked, paniculately
Grangea maderaspatana (L.) Poir,
(Asteraceae) branched floral shoot. Cypsele columnar, angled
and thickly ribbed.
Description : A prostrate, procumbent, Medicinal use : Diuretic and laxative.
villous, annual herb. Leaves alternate, sessile, Decoction of root in fever.
pinnatifid. Heads heterogamous yellow, solitary.
Cypsele flattened, pale brown. Leueas cephalotes (Roth) Spreng.
(Lamiaceae)
Medicinal use : Stomachic
Description : An erect hairy, annual herb.
Gynandropsis gynandra (L.) Briquet
(Cleomaceae) Leaves lanceolate, crenate.-serrate. Flowers
sessile in large, terminal or axillary whorls.
Description : An erect, branched, glandular- Nutlets obovoid, oblong, smooth, brown.
pubescent, annual herb. Leaves 3-5 foliate. Medicinal use : Plant extract in jaundice
Flowers white, in corymbs. Capsule striated, and snake-bite. ’
viscid-pubescent. Seeds dark brown.
Lindemia Crustacea (L.) F. Mueller
Medicinal use : Anthelmintic, rheumatism. (Scrophulariaceae)
Decoction of root used in fever.
Description : A small glabrous, branched
Heliotropium indicum L. (Boraginaceae)
erect or diffuse annual herb. Leaves opposite,
Description : An erect hairy annual herb. ovate or lanceolate. Flowers purple or white,
Leaves ovate-lanceolate, rugose above, pilose axillary and terminal., Seeds pale yellow,
beneath. Flowers pale purple or pure white. granulate with minute tail.
Fruit 2-lobed.

267
Singh, Singh & Srivastava
Medicinal use : Plant juice in ringworm.
Martynia annua L. (Martyniaceae)
Description : A much branched, densely
glandular hairy undershrub. Leaves opposite,
deboid-ovate, densely covered with sticky hairs.
Flowers purple. Fruit a drupe, with a short
upturned beak.
Medicinal use : Seeds in skin diseases.
Melilotus alba Medic (Fabaceae)
Description : An erect annual herb. Leaves
3- foliate, leaflets elliptic-oblong or lanceolate.
Flcwers white in long racemes. Pods oblong.
Seed brown.
Medicinal use : Emollient. ’
Melilotus indica (L.) All. (Fabaceae)
Description : An erect annual herb. Leaves
3-foliate; leaflets obovate or oblanceolate.
Flowers yellow. Pods glabrous.
Medicinal use : Emollient.
Meloehia eorchorifolia L. (Sterculiaceae)
Description : An erect, or procumbent,
annual herb. Leaves ovate, serrate, glabrous,
hairy on nerves beneath. Flowers pinkish white,
in terminal or axillary clusters, intermixed with
many hairy bracteoles. Capsule hispid. Seeds
dark-gray, angular.
Medicinal use : Leaves and fruits in
dysentery.
Mimosa pudica L. (Mimosaceae)
Description : A diffuse, prickly, annual herb.
Leaves sensitive to touch. Flowers purplish, in
head. Pods 3-5 cm long, flat, 3-5 jointed. Seeds
yellowish green, shining.
Medicinal use : Diuretic. Seeds in dysentery
and leucoderma.
Mollugo pentaphylla L. (Molluginaceae)
Description : An erect glabrous annual herb.
Leaves spathulate or linear lanceolate. Flowers
minute, green and white. Capsule nearly
globose. Seeds dark brown.
Medicinal use : Leaf juice in earache.
Monochoria hastata (L.) Solms.
268
(Pontederiaceae)
Description : An erect, marshy or aquatic
herb. Leaves hastate or cordate. Flowers
purplish-blue in dense racemes. Capsules
ellipsoid. Seeds yellowish with fine brown ribs.
Medicinal use : Flower juice as tonic.
Monochoria vaginalis (Burn, f.) Presl
(Pontederiaceae)
Description : A small erect, aquatic or
marshy herb. Leaves linear or ovate-lanceolate.
Flowers blue, axillary. Seeds ovoid, many,
ribbed.
Medicinal use : Decoction of leaf in cough
and cold.
Nepeta hindostana (Roth) Haines (Lamiaceae)
Description : An erect, pubescent, annual
herb. Leaves orbicular, crenate. Flowers blue-
purple. Nutlets oblong, brown with white spots.
Medicinal use : Diarrhoea and dysentery.
Nymphoides aurantiaca (Dalzell) O. Kuntze
(Meny anthaceae)
Description : A small aquatic herb with
floating leaves. Leaves deeply cordate, green
above purplish below. Flowers white in clusters..
Seeds flattened globose, covered with minute
spines.
Medicinal use : Decoction of rhizome in
jaundice.
Nymphoides indica (L.) O. Kuntze
(Menyanthaceae)
Description : An aquatic herb. Floating
leaves orbicular, cordate, margin sinuate.
Flowers dimorphic. Capsules sub-globose. Seeds
many, obovate.
Medicinal use : Febrifuge.
Ocimum americanum L. (Lamiaceae)
Description : An erect, much branched,
pubescent annual herb. Leaves elliptic-
lanceolate, pubescent below. Flowers white
tinged with purple. Fruits ellipsoid, black.
Medicinal use : Decoction of leaves in fever
and dysentery.
 J. Econ. Taxon. Bot. Vol. 28 No. 2 (2004)

Oldenlandia corymbosa L. (Rubiaceae) Medicinal use : Diuretic.

Description : An erect or decumbent glab­ Pistia stratiotes L. (Araceae)
rous annual herb. Leaves linear-lanceolate, acu­ Description : A floating gregarious aquatic
te; stipules short, membranous. Flowers minute, herb. Leaves tufted, sessile, ovate-cuneate,
white on axillary peduncles, usually 2-3 flower­ densely pubescent. Inflorescence axillary.
ed. Capsules gobose. Seeds pale brown, angular. Berries many seeded, green, crowned by the
Medicinal use : Plant juice in fever and persistent stigma.
jaundice. Medicinal use : Dysentery & skin diseases.
Oxalis comiculata L. (Oxalidaceae) Plumbago zeylanica L. (Plumbaginaceae)
Description : A slender appressed-hairy Descripton: An erect or diffuse perennial
perennial herb with long creeping stem, rooting herb. Leaves alternate, ovate-lanceolate, acute.
at the nodes. Leaves 3-foliolate on long petioles. Flowers white, glandular pubescent. Capsule
Flowers yellow, in umbellate clusters borne on oblong, pointed. Seed-1, oblong, red, glabrous.
long peduncles. Capsule oblong 5-angled,
pubescent. Seeds brown rugose. Medicinal use : Anthelmintic and Carmina­
tive. Root extract in diarrhoea & skin diseases.
Medicinal use : Astringent and refrigerant.
Polygonum plebejum R.Br. (Polygonaceae)
Peristrophe bicalyculata (Retz.) Nees
(Acanthaceae) Description : A prostrate, branched,
glabrous herb. Leaves sessile, linear. Stipules
Description : An erect, branched, annual short, transparent. Flowers pink or white.
herb. Stem 6-angled, hairy at the nodes. Leaves Nutlets trigonous, black shining.
ovate, acute, hairy. Flowers pink or purple.
Capsule oblong, pointed, pubescent. Seeds ovoid. Medicinal use : Decoction of loot as tonic.
Medicinal use : Root and leaf paste in skin . Portulaca oleracea L. (Portulacaceae)
diseases.
Description : A prostrate or ascending,
Phyla nodiflora (L.) creene (Verbenaceae) glabrous, annual herb. Stem reddish-brown,
swollen at the nodes. Leaves alternate,
Description : A prostrate herb rooting at spathulate, succulent. Flowers yellow. Capsule
the nodes. Leaves spathulate. Flowers white or ovoid. Seeds numerous, reniform, black.
pink. Fruit globose, oblong.
Medicinal use : Laxative.
Medicinal use : Diuretic and febrifuge.
Potentilla supina L. (Rosaceae)
Phyllanthus fratemus Webster
(Euphorbiaceae) Description : A. diffuse much-branched hairy
herb. Leaves pinnate. Flowers yellow, solitary.
Description : An erect, glabrous, annual Achenes ovoid, smooth.
herb. Leaves sub-sessile, elliptic oblong, base
rounded. Flowers axillary. Capsule reddish- Medicinal use : Decoction of flowers and
brown, smooth. Seeds light brown. fruits in fever.
Medicinal use : Aphrodisiac and jaundice. Ranunculus sceleratus L. (Ranunculaceae)
Physalis minima L. (Solanaceae) Description : An erect, glabrous, annual
herb. Leaves radical and cauline. Flowers
Description : A pubescent, erect or decum­ yellow. Petals with nectariferous pit. Achenes
bent annual herb. Leaves ovate, sinuate­ obliquely obovate, glabrous, yellowish brown.
toothed, acute. Flowers yellow, solitary axillary.
Bernes yellow, enveloped in membranous calyx. Medicinal use : Leaf extract in eczema.
Seeds discoid, orange-yellow, muricate. Rumex dentatus L. (Polygonaceae)

oc.q
Singh, Singh & Srivastava
Description : Erect, glabrous, annual herb.
Stem tinged with red. Leaves oblong, obtuse.
Flowers cream coloured. Nutlets trigonous,
brown.
Medicinal use : Leaf extract antiseptic.
Sagittaria guayanensis H.B. & K.
(Alismataeeae)
Description : An erect, emergent aquatic
herb. Leaves broadly ovate, base deeply cordate.
Flowers white. Achenes flat; winged.
Medicinal use : Leaf juice in skin diseases.
Scoparia dulcis L. (Scrophuiariaceae)
Description : An erect, glabrous annual
herb. Leaves lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate.
Flowers small white. Corolla densely bearded.
Seeds many, minute.
Medicinal use : Decoction of leaves in fever
Senna occidentalis (L.) Link
(Caesalpiniaceae)
■ Description : An erect herb or undershrub.
Leaves 12-20 cm long with a single conical gland
at the base of the petiole. Flowers yellow. Pods
flattened, slightly upcurved. Seed pale brown
Medicinal use : Aphrodisiac and purgative.
Senna tora (L.) Roxb. (Caesalpiniaceae)
Description ; An erect, foetid, annual herb.
Leaflets in 3 pairs. Flowers yellow, axillary.
Pods subtetragonous, obliquely septate.
Medicinal use : Laxative. Seed paste in skin
diseases.
Sida acuta Burrn. f. (Malvaceae)
Description : An erect, herb or undershurb.
Branches sparsely stellate hairy. Leaves
lanceolate-oblong, acute, crenate serrate.
Flowers yellow-, axillary. Seeds smooth black.
Medicinal use : Astringent & blood purifier.
Sida cordifolia L. (Malvaceae)
Description : An erect branched, stellate-
tomentose undershrub. Leaves ovate-orbicular,
ba.'C cordate. Flowers yellow. Each mericarp
2-awned.
Medicinal use : Astringent and aphrodisiac.
270
Sida orientalis Cav. (Malvaceae)
Description : An erect hairy undershrub.
Leaves rhomboid-lanceolate. Flowers yellow.
Seeds dull black, glabrous.
Medicinal use : Aphrodisiac. Leaf juice used
in dysentery and fever.
Solanum nigrum L. (Solanaceae)
Description : An erect, branched herb. Lea­
ves ovate-lanceolate, glabrous. Flowers white.
Berries globose, black. Seeds yellow.
Medicinal use : Diuretic and laxative. Leaf
juice in fever.
Solanum surattense Burm. f. (Solanaceae)
Description : A diffuse annual herb, armed
with straight yellow sharp prickles. Leaves
ovate or elliptic, stellately hairy on both the
surfaces. Flowers bluish-purple. Fruit globose
berry. Seeds numerous, smooth.
Medicinal use : Seeds are used in toothache.
Leaf juice in rheumatism and root extract in
fever.
Sonchus oleraceus L. CAsteraceae)
Description : An erect, glabrous annual-
herb. Leaves lanceolate, auricles spreading.
Heads yellow. Cypsele light brown.
Medicinal use : Root decoction in fever.
Sphaeranthus indicus L. (Asteraceae)
Description : A viscous-pubescent, branched,
aromatic, annual herb with winged stems.
Leaves sessile, alternate, obovate oblong,
glandular hairy. Heads pink or purple,
heterogamous. Cypsele minute, glabrous.
Pappus absent.
Medicinal use : Diabetes and respiratory
disease.
Spilanthes paniculata Wallich ex A.P. de
Candolle (Asteraceae)
Description : Stems trailing or ascending.
Leaves ovate, irregularly crenate. Flowering
heads yellow. Cypsele dimorphic.
Medicinal use : Anti-scorbutic, diuretic and
odontalgic. Flower heads chewed in toothache.

Tephrosia hamiltonii J.R, Drumm. (Fabaceae)
Description : An erect, much branched,
glabrescent perennial herb. Leaf compound.
Flowers red or purple. Pods flattened, slightly
curved.
Medicinal use : Leaf extract in jaundice.
Root alexipharmic.
Trianthema portulacastrum L. (Aizoaceae)
Description : A prostrate sub-succulent,
glabrous herb. Leaves opposite, unequally
paired. Flowers white. Seeds black, muriculate.
Medicinal use : Roots in eye cure and as a
tonic.
Tribulus terrestris L. (Zygophyllaceae)
Description : A prostrate, or decumbent
hairy annual herb; young parts silky villous.
Leaves paripinnate. Flowers yellow, solitary.
Seeds numerous.
Medicinal use : Fruits in corn cure and as a
diuretic.
Tridax procumbens L. (Asteraceae)
Description : A procumbent or prostrate,
perennial herb. Leaves opposite, ovate-
lanceolate, dentate. Heads yellow. Cypsele
oblong, dark brown or black.
Medicinal use : Fever, skin diseases and
Bleeding.
Typhonium trilobatum (L.) Schott (Araceae)
Description : An erect, glabrous, tuberous
herb. Leaves three lobed. Spathe ovate,
narrowed into long slender point. Spadix
exerted. Seeds globose.
Medicinal use : Expectorant and stimulant.
Urena lobata L. (Malvaceae)
Description : A stellate-pubescent to
tomentose herb or undershrub. Leaves cordate,
trilobed, hairy. Flowers pink, axillary. Carpels
5, armed with hooked bristles. Seeds dark
brown, smooth, wedge-shaped.
Medicinal use : Leaves in rheumatic pain
and roots as diuretic.
Vemonia cineria (L.) Juss. (Asteraceae)
271
J. Econ. Taxon. Bot. Vol. 28 No. 2 (2004)
Description ; An erect, simple or branched
herb. Leaves obovate; gland dotted beneath.
Heads pink to purple. Cypsele obovate. Pappus
biseriate.
Medicinal use : Alexipharmic, anthelmintic
and astringent. Leaf juice in fever.
Vetiveria zizaniodes (L.) Nash (Poaceae)
Description : Densely tufted, slender,
perennial with stout rhizome. Leaves rigid, flit
or folded, ciliate on margins. Spikelets sessile,
linear or lanceolate, yellowish, violet-brown;
purplish or black. Caryopsis ellipsoid.
Medicinal use : Febrifuge.
Vicia sativa L. (Fabaceae)
Description : A suberect or diffused annual
herb with angular stem. Leaflets 6-12' pairs.
Flower pale purple. Pods llhear, flat. Seeds
sub-globose.
Medicinal use : Emollient in the form of
poultice. . ....
Xanthium strumarium L. (Asteraceae) ■
Description : An erect, scabrous, annual
herb. Stem fistular-.- Leaves broadly triangular-..
cordate-ovate. Heads in axillary and terminal,
racemes. Cypsele ovoid or oblong. Fruiting'
involucres covered with hooked prickles. Pappus
absent.
Medicinal use : Alexiteric, anthelmintic,
appetizer, digestive and laxative. • ~ '
DISCUSSION
This is prelirhiriary work and the
investigation of the Weed flora of Varanasi
district is in progress.' Weeds are not'
always undesirable. ; Though these plants
disturb the growth: of the cultivated plants,
they are of use in some way or other. We
have got a vast wealth and variety of plants
which grow in different-habitats. The vast
majority of our .people live,.in villages in
relatively closer contact with nature and
plant wealth. Yet, we'are, among the poor
nations of the world.Tt has been stated that
we are not utilizing our plant resources and
Singh, Singh & Srivastava

vast land fully and properly (Jain, 1984; encouragement and facility.
Pal, 1981). Gupta (1967) emphasized that
the information we already possess on the REFERENCES
economic aspects of plants should be ABBASI, S.A. 1993. World’s worst weeds. IBD,
revised thoroughly based on personal Dehradun (India).
enquiries and experimentations.
AGARWAL, V.S. 1986. Economic plants of
During the study it was observed thatIndia. Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh,
89 species of medicinal weeds infested Dehradun.
cultivated fields of Varanasi district. AMBASTA, S.P. 1992. The useful plants of
Families like Asteraceae, Amaranthaceae, India. C.S.I.R., New Delhi.
Euphorbiaceae, Fabaceae and Malvaceae ANONYMOUS 1986. The useful plants of India.
have large number of useful weeds in the C.S.I.R., New Delhi.
study area. Medicinal properties of 46 ____________ 1997. Indian Medicinal Plants-a
weeds were found well documented in compedium of 500 species. Volume I-V.
literature. Five of these weeds were Orient Longman Limited, Hydrabad.
identified as potential weeds. These
ARACHI, J.X. 1978. Weeds. Palm publications,
potential weeds possess valuable medicinal Tirunelveli.
and industrial uses, and they . have big
demand in national and international CAIUS, J.F. 1986. The Medicinal and Poisonous
Plants of India. Scientific Publishers,
pharmaceutical markets. The study Jodhpur, India.
suggested that there is an urgent neecLqf:
CHOPRA, R.N., S.L. NAYAR & I.C. CHOPRA
1. Documentation of Medicinal Weeds Of 1956. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants.
Varanasi district. , C.S.I.R., New Delhi.
DASTUR, J.F. 1962. Medicinal Plants of India
2. Extensive survey of cultivated fields.
and Pakistan. D.B. Taraporevala Sons & Co.
3. Identification of cultivated fields having
Ltd, Bombay.
higher density of particular medicinal
DATTA, S.C. & A.K. BANERJEE 1978. Useful
weeds. i weeds of West Bengal rice fields. Econ. Bot.
32:297-310.
4. Identification of industrial uses of locally
available medicinal weeds. __________ & N.K. CHAKRAVARTY 1983.
Weeds in' Tripura Crops. Indian
5. Establishment of proper linkage between Agric. 27:322-330.
village level cooperative societies and
DIXIT, R.D. & RAMESH KUMAR 2003. Plants
national and international
used by local people in Human welfare. J.
pharmaceutical distributors. Econ. Taxon. Bot. 27 (1) : 53-59.
6. Development of processing methods for FIRIE, N.W. 1970. Weeds are not all bad. Ceres.
medicinal . weeds according F.A.O. Review 3 (4) : 4.
to
international standards. FRANSWORTH, N.R., O. AKERELE & A.S.
BINGEL 1985. Medicinal Plants in therapy.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Bull. World Health Org. 63:965-981.
GOGOI, R. & M.K. DASH 2003. Observations on
The authors are thankful to Head, some weeds of medicinal importance in
Department of Botany and Principal, Udai Brahmputra Valley of Assam. J. Econ.
Pratap Autonomous College, Varanasi for Taxon. Bot. 27 (2) : 434-441.

272

GUPTA, R.K. 1967. Seasonal flowers of the
Indian Summer Resort Mussoorie Hills. New
Delhi.
HALM, L.G. 1971. The'role of weeds in human
affairs. Weed Sci. 19:485-490.
HUXLEY, A. 1984. Green Inheritance. The
World Wildlife Fund Book of India. Collins/
Harvill, London.
JACKSON, G. DAYDON 1928. A Glossary of
Botanical terms. 4th ed. Gerlad Duckworth &
Co. Ltd., London.
JAIN, S.K. 1968. Medicinal Plants. National
Book Trust, New Delhi, pp. 176.
________ 1991. Dictionary of Indian Folk
Medicine and Ethnobotany. Deep
Publications, New Delhi.
________ & P. SARAN 1961. Observations on
the economic importance of some common
weeds around Allahabad. Allahabad Farm
35:174-186.
_______ 1984. Flora of India-Tasks before 2000
A.D. J. Indian bot. Soc. 63:325-334.
KAUSHAL KUMAR, O.P. UPADHYAY & R.K.
TIWARI 1997. Studies on weeds used as
ethnomedicinal plants of some tribal people.
Vasundhra 2 : 48-51.
KHAN, A.A., SHABINA KHAN & MRIGEN-
DRA PRATAP SINGH 2003. Weeds of Soya
bean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) and their
medicinal importance in Rewa Division
(M.P.) India. J. Econ. Taxon. Bot. 27(1):
245-248.
KHAN, I.M. & A.A. KHAN 1997. Ethno-
botanical studies of Niger (Guizotia
abyssinica Cass.) weeds. Advances in Plant
Sciences 9 (11) : 103-107.
KUMAR, R. & R. DHAN 1998. Traditional medi­
cines and global perspectives. In: P.L. Gau-
tam, R. Raina, IJ. Srivastava, S.P. Raychau-
dhuri & B.B. Singh (Eds.) Perspects of Medi­
cinal Plants. ISPGR, New Delhi, pp. 92-95.
NEOGI, B„ M.N.V. PRASAD & R.R. RAO 1989.
Ethnobotany of some weeds of Khasi and
Garo hills, Meghalya, North East India.
Econ. Bot. 43 (4) : 471-479.
273
J. Econ. Taxon. Bot. Vol. 28 No. 2 (2004)
PAL, B.P. 1981 A National Policy on
Environment. New Delhi.
PANDEY, V.N., K.K. PATEL & SHIVANI 1998.
Studies on weeds used as medicinal plants
by Tharu tribals of Nepal Tarai belt of East­
ern Uttar Pradesh. J. Liv. World 5 (2) : 1-4
PRAKASH, V. 1998. Indian Medicinal Plants:
Current Status-I. Ethnobotany 10 (1 & 2)
:1-13.
SAMI, AJAI & B.K. GUPTA 1996. A note on
some commonly occurring medicinal weeds
of Udhampur district (J.&K.). J. Econ.
Taxon. Bot. Addl. Ser., 12:89-91.
SATYAVATI, G.V., M.K. RAINA & M. SHARMA
1976. Medicinal Plants of India - 1. I.C.M.R.,
New Delhi.
SINGH, A.K. 2003. Ethnomedicinal Plants of
Sub-Himalayan Region of North-Eastern
Uttar Pradesh, India. In: V.K. Singh, J.N.
Govil, Shamima Hashmi and Gurdip Singh
(Ed.) Recent Progress in Medicinal Plants
(Vol. 7)- Ethnomedicine and Pharmacognosy
II. Researchco Book Centre, New Delhi,
pp.83-93
SINGH, K.K. & A. PRAKASH 1996. Observa­
tions on ethnobotany of the Kol Tribe, of
Varanasi district, Uttar Prakash, India. J.
Econ. Taxon. Bot. Addl. Ser., 12:133-137.
__________ & J.K. Maheshwari 1983.
Traditional phytotherapy amongst the
tribals of Varanasi district, Uttar Pradesh.
J. Econ. Taxon. Bot. 4:829-838.
SINGH, M.P., S.K. SINGH & S.K. SINGH 1987.
Ethnobotariical studies of some medicinal
plants used in skin diseases at Varanasi
(U.P.). J. Meghalaya Sci. Soc. 10:33-35.
SINGH, V. & P.J. SINGH 1983. Useful aquatic
weeds of Rajasthan. J. Econ. Taxon. Bot.
4:633-628.
THOMAS, JERY & A. JOHN DE BRITTO 2000.
Weeds of Medicinal importance in
Tirunelveli District in Tamilnadu. In: J.K.
Maheshwari (Ed.) Ethnobotany and
Medicinal Plants of Indian Subcontient.
Scientific Publishers (India), Jodhpur, pp.
363-367.