Blue Madar
Genus: Calotropis
Botanical name: Calotropis gigantea R.Br. / Calotropis procera R.Br.
PLANT NAME IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGE
Sanskrit: Arka, Sooryahvaya,Vasuka, Ksheeraparni, Alarka, Asphoda,
English: Blue Madar
Hindi: Akavana, Aka, Mandara
Malayalam: Neela Erukku
MEDICINAL PROPERTIES
Blue Madar is a large shrub growing to 4 m tall. It has clusters of waxy flowers that are either white or lavender in colour. Each flower consists of five pointed petalsand a small, elegant “crown” rising from the centre, which holds the stamens. The plant has oval, light green leaves and milky stem.
The flowers last long, and in Thailand they are used in various floral arrangements. They were also supposed to be popular with the Hawaiian Queen Liliuokalani, who considered them as symbol of royalty and wore them strung into leis. In India, the plant is common in the compounds of temples and is known as Madar.While in Cambodia, they are used in funerals to decorate the urn or sarcophagus and the interior of the house holding the funeral. Thefruit is a follicle and when dry, seed dispersal is by wind. This plant plays host to a variety of insects and butterflies. In Indonesia its flowers is called widuri.
The flowers and roots of Blue Madar is used to make pills and the juice of the leaves and the latex of plant is used in the process of grinding the pills.