Distribution in Egypt
provided by Bibliotheca Alexandrina LifeDesk
Nile Valley North of Nubia (Fayium), Nile Valley North of Nubia (Delta), Nile Valley North of Nubia, Nubia, Libyan Desert Oases, Nubian Desert Oases, Mareotic Sector, North Sinai, Isthmic Desert, Mountainous Southern Sinai.
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Global Distribution
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Canary Islands, Spain, Sardinia, Greece, Turkey, Africa, southwest Asia, extending to India and Australia.
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- BA Cultnat
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- Bibliotheca Alexandrina
Habitat
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- BA Cultnat
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- Bibliotheca Alexandrina
Life Expectancy
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- BA Cultnat
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- Bibliotheca Alexandrina
Comments
provided by eFloras
Withania kansuensis, which is known only from the type that cannot be located, was distinguished by a series of characters that are also found in W. somnifera, and only the presence of simple hairs seems distinctive.
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- Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
Comments
provided by eFloras
Common throughout in waste places up to 2300 m. The plant parts have alkaloids with sedative properties. The root is used in rheumatism and debility. The leaves are used in fevers; a concoction with roots is useful for ulcers, boils etc. The fruit is diuretic. The poisonous seeds have a mild coagulating effect on milk.
The species is variable as to the texture and the pubescence of leaves.
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- Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
Description
provided by eFloras
Herbs perennial, 30-150 cm tall, pubescent with dendritic hairs. Stems woody proximally, erect or reclining, branched, tomentose. Petiole 1-2 cm; leaf blade ovate, obovate, or oblong, 2.5-12 × 2-7 cm, glabrescent adaxially except along midvein, pubescent abaxially, base cuneate, apex acute. Inflorescences subsessile clusters of 4-6 flowers; peduncle obsolete. Pedicel ca. 5 mm. Calyx campanulate, 3-5 mm, tomentose; lobes deltate, 1-2 mm. Corolla yellowish green, narrowly campanulate, 5-8 mm, tomentose at throat; lobes ovate, spreading or recurving, 2-2.5 mm. Filaments ca. 1.8 mm; anthers yellow, ovoid, ca. 1 mm, minutely apiculate. Style exserted. Fruiting calyx becoming brown and translucent, globose or ovoid, truncate at base, 1-2.2 cm; lobes short, somewhat urceolate. Berry shiny, scarlet, globose, 5-8 mm. Seeds drying pale brown, reniformdiscoid, 2-2.5 × 2 mm. Fl. and fr. Oct.
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- Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
Description
provided by eFloras
A suffruticose shrub, 60-90 cm tall. Branches ascending. Shoots stellate-tomentose. Leaves 4-13 x 2-9 cm, elliptic-ovate to broadly ovate, acute, cuneate or oblique, entire to repand. Petiole 10-20 mm long. Flowers sessile to subsessile, greenish-yellow, in axillary clusters of 2-5.Calyx 2-2.5 x 2.5-3 mm, up to 2.0 x 14 mm in fruit, stellately hairy, becoming glabrescent and membranous; teeth 1-1.5 mm long, up to 8 mm in fruit, acute. Corolla lobes 2-2.5 mm long, triangular, tomentose to the outside. Anthers subincluded; filaments 1-2.5 mm long. Berry globose, 6-8 mm broad, red. Seeds sub pyriform to reniform, minutely reticulate-foveolate, yellowish-brown.
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- Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
Distribution
provided by eFloras
Distribution: Canary Islands, Mediterranean, Africa, Iraq, S. Iran, Syria, Turkey, Palestine, Arabia, Pakistan and India.
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- Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
Flower/Fruit
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Fl. Per.: Mostly throughout the year.
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- Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA
Habitat & Distribution
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Gansu, Yunnan [Afghanistan, India, Pakistan; SW Asia, Europe]
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Synonym
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Physalis somnifera Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 182. 1753; Withania kansuensis Kuang & A. M. Lu.
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Derivation of specific name
provided by Flora of Zimbabwe
somnifera: sleep-bearing or -producing
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- Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten and Petra Ballings
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- Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T. and Ballings, P. (2002-2014). Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal Flora of Zimbabwe website. Accessed 28 August 2014 at http://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/species.php?species_id=150500
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- Mark Hyde
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- Bart Wursten
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- Petra Ballings
Description
provided by Flora of Zimbabwe
Erect subshrub or woody based perennial to 1.5 m. Stems tomentose. Leaves: lamina 4-10 × 3-7 cm, ovate, stellate-tomentose, glabrescent; base cuneate; margin entire. Flowers 4-16 in a cluster. Corolla greenish, tomentose
externally. Fruit a berry, 8-10 mm in diameter, spherical, glossy, scarlet, enclosed within an enlarged accrescent calyx, c. 2 cm in
fruit.
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- Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T. and Ballings, P. (2002-2014). Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal Flora of Zimbabwe website. Accessed 28 August 2014 at http://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/species.php?species_id=150500
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- Mark Hyde
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- Bart Wursten
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- Petra Ballings
Frequency
provided by Flora of Zimbabwe
Frequent
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- Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten and Petra Ballings
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- Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T. and Ballings, P. (2002-2014). Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal Flora of Zimbabwe website. Accessed 28 August 2014 at http://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/species.php?species_id=150500
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- Mark Hyde
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- Bart Wursten
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- Petra Ballings
Worldwide distribution
provided by Flora of Zimbabwe
Native to the Old World subtropics; now widely distributed from Europe south through Africa to South Africa and from the Middle East to India and southern China.
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- Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T. and Ballings, P. (2002-2014). Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal Flora of Zimbabwe website. Accessed 28 August 2014 at http://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/species.php?species_id=150500
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- Mark Hyde
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- Bart Wursten
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- Petra Ballings
Withania somnifera
provided by wikipedia EN
Withania somnifera, known commonly as ashwagandha or winter cherry,[2][3][4] is an evergreen shrub in the Solanaceae or nightshade family that grows in India, the Middle East, and parts of Africa. Several other species in the genus Withania are morphologically similar.[3]
The plant, particularly its root powder, has been used for centuries in traditional Indian medicine. Although used in herbalism and sold as a dietary supplement, there is insufficient scientific evidence that it is safe or effective for treating any health condition or disease.[3][4]
Description
This species is a short shrub growing 35–75 cm (14–30 in) tall. Tomentose branches extend radially from a central stem. Leaves are dull green, elliptic, usually up to 10–12 cm (3.9–4.7 in) long. The flowers are small, green and bell-shaped. The ripe fruit is orange-red.[3]
Etymology
The Latin species name somnifera means "sleep-inducing".[5] The name "ashwagandha" is a combination of the Sanskrit words 'ashva', meaning horse, and 'gandha', meaning smell, reflecting that the root has a strong horse-like odor.[3]
Cultivation
Withania somnifera is cultivated in many of the drier regions of India. It is also found in Nepal, Sri Lanka, China,[6] and Yemen.[7] It prefers dry stony soil with sun to partial shade. To propagate it can be grown from seed in the early spring, or from greenwood cuttings in the later spring.[8]
Diseases and pests
Withania somnifera is prone to several pests and diseases. Leaf spot disease caused by Alternaria alternata is the most prevalent disease, which occurs in a severe form in Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh. A decline in the concentration of its secondary metabolites occurs by leaf spot disease.[9] A treehopper feeds on the apical portions of the stem, making them rough and woody in appearance and brown in colour.
The carmine red spider mite (Tetranychus urticae) is the most prevalent pest of the plant in India.[10] In recent years, this plant has been serving as a new reservoir host for an invasive mealybug species Phenacoccus solenopsis.[11]
Phytochemistry
The main phytochemical constituents are withanolides – which are triterpene lactones – withaferin A, alkaloids, steroidal lactones, tropine, and cuscohygrine.[3] Some 40 withanolides, 12 alkaloids, and numerous sitoindosides have been isolated.[3] Withanolides are structurally similar to the ginsenosides of Panax ginseng, leading to a common name for W. somnifera, "Indian ginseng".[3]
Adverse effects
W. somnifera may cause adverse effects if taken alone or together with prescription drugs.[3][4][12] Side effects may include diarrhea, headache, sedation, or nausea, and the product should not be used during pregnancy or breastfeeding.[4][12]
Gallery
Druggist's jar containing dried roots of Withania somnifera
Dried graded roots of Withania somnifera
References
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^ "Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal". Tropicos. Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved 25 Feb 2012.
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^ "Withania somnifera". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 2011-10-29.
-
^ a b c d e f g h i "Ashwagandha". Drugs.com. 2 November 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
-
^ a b c d "Ashwagandha". MedlinePlus, US National Library of Medicine. 28 August 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
-
^ Stearn, W. T. (1995). Botanical Latin: History, Grammar, Syntax, Terminology and Vocabulary (4th ed.). Timber Press. ISBN 978-0-88192-321-6.
-
^ Pandit, S.; Chang, K.-W.; Jeon, J.-G. (February 2013). "Effects of Withania somnifera on the growth and virulence properties of Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus at sub-MIC levels". Anaerobe. 19: 1–8. doi:10.1016/j.anaerobe.2012.10.007. PMID 23142795.
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^ Hugh Scott & Kenneth Mason, Western Arabia and the Red Sea, Naval Intelligence Division: London 1946, p. 597 ISBN 0-7103-1034-X.
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^ Deni., Bown (1995). Encyclopedia of herbs & their uses. Montréal: RD Press. ISBN 0888503342. OCLC 32547547.
-
^ Pati, P. K.; Sharma, M.; Salar, R. K.; Sharma, A.; Gupta, A. P.; Singh, B. (2009). "Studies on leaf spot disease of Withania somnifera and its impact on secondary metabolites". Indian Journal of Microbiology. 48 (4): 432–437. doi:10.1007/s12088-008-0053-y. PMC 3476785. PMID 23100743.
-
^ Sharma, A.; Pati, P. K. (2012). "First record of the carmine spider mite, Tetranychus urticae, infesting Withania somnifera in India". Journal of Insect Science. 12 (50): 1–4. doi:10.1673/031.012.5001. PMC 3476950. PMID 22970740.
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^ Sharma, A.; Pati, P. K. (2013). "First record of Ashwagandha as a new host to the invasive mealybug (Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley) in India". Entomological News. 123 (1): 59–62. doi:10.3157/021.123.0114. S2CID 85645762.
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^ a b "Ashwagandha". New York City: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. 13 April 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
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Withania somnifera: Brief Summary
provided by wikipedia EN
Flower
Withania somnifera, known commonly as ashwagandha or winter cherry, is an evergreen shrub in the Solanaceae or nightshade family that grows in India, the Middle East, and parts of Africa. Several other species in the genus Withania are morphologically similar.
The plant, particularly its root powder, has been used for centuries in traditional Indian medicine. Although used in herbalism and sold as a dietary supplement, there is insufficient scientific evidence that it is safe or effective for treating any health condition or disease.
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Flower 
