Withania somnifera
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Species name: Withania somnifera
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- Species identity and nomenclature
- Current Wikipedia entry
- Binomial Classification
- Morphological features
- Habitat and Geographical Spread
- Maps
- Medicinal Importance
- Cultural significance
- Commercial importance and cultivation
- Summary of PubMed articles
- Summary of NCBI molecular data
- External Links
- Images and Videos
| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| Names of users who have contributed to this species page | shwetankverma, gauravm | |
| Date on which this page was first created | 2010/07/25 | |
| This page was last modified on: | 24 November 2010 05:09:31 | |
| Name of the species | Withania somnifera | |
| ID on Encyclopedia of Life | 396531 | |
| Synonyms | Please check Binomial Classification section for synonyms. | |
| Common English Names | Indian Ginseng, Winter cherry | |
| Common Hindi Names | अश्वगंधा Ashwagandha | |
| Common Indian names | अश्वगंधा Ashwagandha (Hindi); Ashwagandha (Marathi); Kanchuki (Kannada); Vajigandha (Telugu); Amukkuram (Malayalam); Amukkuram (Tamil) | Shwetankverma, Gauravm, FoI |
| Origins/Meanings of the common names | Ashwagandha in Sanskrit means "horse's smell," probably originating from the odor of its root which resembles that of a sweaty horse. The species name somnifera means "sleep-inducing" in Latin, indicating that to it are attributed sedating properties, but it has been also used for sexual vitality and as an adaptogen. Some herbalists refer to ashwagandha as Indian ginseng, since it is used in ayurvedic medicine in a way similar to that ginseng is used in traditional Chinese medicine. | wiki |
Taxonomy from Encyclopedia of Life
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{{#EoLOnlyHierarchy:396531}}
Taxonomy filled in form
Click here for the PDF of the phylogeny
| Taxon | Value |
|---|---|
| Regnum (Kingdom) | Plantae |
| Division | Magnoliophyta |
| Class | Magnoliopsida |
| Order | Solanales |
| Family | Solanaceae |
| Genus | Withania |
| Source of data | ' |
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| Division | Taxon details | Taxon morphology details |
|---|---|---|
| Magnoliophyta | Also called Angiospermae. The ancestors of flowering plants diverged from gymnosperms around 245–202 million years ago, and the first flowering plants known to exist are from 140 million years ago. They diversified enormously during the Lower Cretaceous and became widespread around 100 million years ago, but replaced conifers as the dominant trees only around 60-100 million years ago. | These are seed plants like Gymnosperms, but can be differentiated by the presence of flowers, seeds containing endosperm and seeds that produce a fruit. Angiosperms are the most diverse and highly evolutionarily successful group of land plants. |
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| Class | Taxon details | Taxon morphology details |
|---|---|---|
| Magnoliopsida | Magnoliopsida is the scientific name for dicots. This class contains about ~1,99,350 species of Angiosperms. Eudicots are a subset of Dicots. Based on chloroplast DNA sequences, the divergence date between monocots and dicots is estimated to be ~200 million years, with a 40 million years uncertainty. | Dicots are diverse in habit, with half of all the species being more or less woody-stemmed - a reflection of the usual presence of a vascular cambium in the class. Annuals, biennials, vines, epiphytes, aquatics, parasites, and saprotrophs are also well represented in dicots. Vascular bundles of the stem are usually borne in a ring that encloses the pith. Vessel elements present except in some putatively primitive woody or aquatic families. Most dicots have a primary root system derived from the radicle, although some have an adventitious root system commonly seen in the class of monocots. Cotyledons are usually 2, seldom 1, 3, or 4. Leaves are mostly net-veined. |
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Based on classification
More details can be found in the Binomial Classification section.
Morphology from Encyclopedia of Life
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{{#EoLOnlyDescription:396531}}
General morphology
| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| General morphological features of the plant | stout shrub - a height of 170 cm (5.6 ft).
it bears yellow flowers and yellow-Orange to red Berry type fruit, though its fruit is berry-like in size and shape"stout shrub - a height of 170 cm (5.6 ft). it bears yellow flowers and yellow-Orange to red Berry type fruit, though its fruit is berry-like in size and shape" cannot be used as a page name in this wiki. |
wiki |
| Seed dispersal mechanism | ||
|---|---|---|
| Bloom type | ||
| Life cycle of the plant |
How to identify this species
For a detailed description, refer to the General Morphology details above
| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| Type of plant | Woody (Tree/Shrub) | |
| Plant height | 3 feet to 6 feet | Wikipedia |
| Flower color | Yellow | wiki |
| Flower shape | ||
| Floral symmetry | ||
| Phyllotaxy of leaves | ||
| Leaf shape | ||
| Is the leaf petiolated or sessile? | ||
| Is the leaf simple or compound? |
| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| IUCN Conservation Status | Not Evaluated | EoL |
| Indian States in which the species has been documented | ||
| Locations at which the species has been documented | ||
| Biotic zones inhabited | ||
| Details about the habitat | More common in drier parts of India | FoI |
| Is this species native to India? | Yes | GRIN, FoI |
| Is the species indigenous/endemic to Sub-Himalayan regions? | No | |
| Is the species indigenous/endemic to Western Ghats? | ||
| Is the species indigenous/endemic to Eastern Ghats? |
More plants native to India
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| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| Does this species have any medicinal use? | Yes |
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Other plants of the same family having medicinal use:
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| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| General types of ailments this species is used for treating | Infectious diseases, Pains and Inflammation, Mental disorders, Cancer | |
| Specific ailments for which the species is used | Anti-inflammatory, Antitumor, Antistress, Antioxidant, Immunomodulatory, Hemopoetic, mild depressant (tranquilizer) | review from Journal |
| Medicinal systems which use this plant | Ayurveda, Unani | shwetankverma |
| Details of Medicinal use | ||
| Parts of the plant used for treatment | Root, Leaves, Seeds | EoL |
| Names of some medicinal active compounds in this plant, if known. | ||
| Details of the active chemical compounds found in this plant | ||
| Is the molecular basis of the medicinal action known? | Yes | |
| Details of molecular basis of action | biologically active components of this plant are alkaloids (isopelletierine, anaferine), steroidal lactones (withanolides, withaferins), saponins containing an additional acyl group (sitoindoside VII and VIII), and withanolides with a glucose at carbon 27 (sitoindoside IX and X). rich in iron.
Flavanoids from this plant are thought to have anti-proliferative action due to their interaction with JAK-STAT pathway. Extracts are also known to have Hypoglycaemic and Hypolipidaemic Effects |
review from Journal, Aalinkeel2010, Pubmed search |
| Are the toxic effects of consumption of this plant known? | ||
| Details of the toxic effects of the plant species | ||
| Have there been validation/clinical studies related to this plant? | ||
| Details of the clinical studies related to the plant species |
| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| Is this plant/plant-derived product used in food preparations? | ||
| Part(s) of the plant used in the food preparations | ||
| Details of use in food preparations | ||
| Does this species have any religious significance? | ||
| Religions which mention/give significance to this species | Wikipedia | |
| Religious occasions | ||
| Details of religious use |
| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| Is this plant cultivated commercially in India? | ||
| Uses for which the plant is commercially cultivated | Medicinal use | |
| Plant parts of commercial value | Root, Leaves | |
| Products where this plant is used | User-reported | |
| Description of use | ||
| States where this plant is cultivated commercially | Madhya Pradesh | |
| Best period for planting this plant | ||
| Best period for harvesting this plant | ||
| Method of propagation | ||
| Water requirement of this plant | ||
| Pests and Diseases affecting this plant during cultivation | ||
| Other considerations while cultivating this plant |
Pubmed Word cloud
This word cloud is obtained using the tool LigerCat by searching the Pubmed database. LigerCat builds the cloud from the most relevant Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms. Each term's relative size indicates how many times it appears in the PubMed search results. Click on a term to access the full LigerCat cloud, with live PubMed search capabilities. LigerCat has been developed for the Biology of Aging Project.
The page may take some time to load since LigerCat is searching the entire PubMed database and sending us the results in real time.
- If there is an error message below, it means that there is no retrievable information available on NCBI
- If the number of nucleotide sequences is less than 100, very little genomic work has been done on this species. A respectable number of nucleotide sequences is above 10000.
- Most of the nucleotide sequences may come from three sources:
- Studies on single genes, where people try to sequence genes such as some specific dehydrogenases important,say, for tannin production
- Sequences of Ribosomal Internal Transcribed Spacer, whose sequence is used for generating molecular phylogenetic trees to establish species relationships
- Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) which can tell about which genes are present and expressed in the species at a particular time in the given tissue
{{#queryDB:taxonomy |Withania somnifera }}
| Parameter | Value(s) | References See complete references in the References section at the end |
|---|---|---|
| Details of modern scientific knowledge available for this species | ||
| Are herbarium specimen available for this species? | ||
| Institutes having herbarium samples |
If nothing is displayed in this section, it means the EoL ID has not been defined. Please click on Edit with form button on top and follow the instructions for filling in the EoL ID
{{#EoLOnlyAdditionalInfo:396531}}
References
review from Journal (Journal) : Lakshmi-Chandra Mishra, MD (Ayur), PhD, Betsy B. Singh, PhD, Simon Dagenais, BA (2000),Scientific Basis for the Therapeutic Use of Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha): A Review, Alternative Medicine Review:5(4):334. doi={{{doi}}}
Aalinkeel2010 (Journal) : Aalinkeel et al (2010),Genomic Analysis Highlights the Role of the JAK-STAT Signaling in the Anti-proliferative Effects of Dietary Flavonoid—‘Ashwagandha’ in Prostate Cancer Cells, Evid Based Complement Alternat Med.:7(2):177. doi={{{doi}}}
Drugs.com (Web): Drugs.com Ashwagandha, Accessdate=2010-july-04
Wiki (Web): WIkipedia entry, Accessdate=2010-08-07
FoI (Web): Flowers of India, Accessdate=2010-08-07
Pubmed search (Web): [Organism:noexp&pmfilter_Fulltext=off Pubmed search for Withania somnifera], Accessdate=2010-08-07
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