Bhadraksham ഭദ്രാക്ഷം

MEDICINAL PROPERTIES
Bhadraksham is a large bush reaching up to about 4 m in height typical of littoral zones where it grows very close to the sea exposed to the salt spray, usually on sandy or pebbly soils. Leaves are slightly succulent, about 20 cm long, closely alternate and crowded at the stem tips. They are glabrous with a fleshy-looking yellowish green color. The fruits and flowers are white. Scaevola taccada blooms the whole year round and the flowers have a fan-like shape which gives them the name Fanflower or Half flower. The fruits float in seawater and are propagated by ocean currents, this bush being one of the pioneer plants in new sandbanks in tropical areas.
In some islands of the Pacific, Scaevola taccada is used to prevent coastal erosion as well as for landscaping. It is also planted on the beach crests to protect other cultivated plants from the salt spray. Parts of the plant are also used in Polynesian and Asian traditional medicine.