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Medicinal Plant Plumbago

learn about the medicinal & magical properties of THE Plumbago PLANT. also known as Leadwort, this pretty blue flowering shrub has a long and interesting folklore around the world.

Childhood Magic

Pretty Plumbago always makes me smile. Who else used to stick the flower onto their shirt or wear them as earrings as a kid? I loved amazing my visiting friends with its “magic.” All thanks to the sticky, gland tipped hairs on the flower calyx.

I was fascinated to learn later on that Plumbago, also known as Leadwort, has a long and interesting history of uses around the world. For example, the flowers and leaves have been used as a dye for cloth while the root sap has been used for tattoos. Plumbago also has a long history of magical and medicinal uses. Here are some of them:

Traditional Magical Uses

  • A stick or bundle of sticks of Plumbago placed in the roof thatching was believed to protect from lightning.
  • Throwing a stick of Plumbago was believed to redirect a hailstorm.
  • It was believed to be able to take away bad dreams.
  • Bathing with the rootbark was prescribed to help heal matrimonial discord.

Traditional Medicinal Uses of PLUMBAGO PLANT

  • Its common name in Europe, Leadwort, comes from the belief that it could cure lead poisoning.
  • The roots & leaves were taken as a snuff to cure a headache.
  • In Africa it has been used to treat maleria and black water fever, as well as fractures and broken bones.
  • It has a long history of being used to treat warts and other skin conditions.

For example,  in Syria’s folk medicine, it is used to treat skin diseases such as eczema and psoriasis. And in India, where it’s known as ‘Chitrak’, it is credited with a wide range of healing properties and used in the Ayurvedic medicial system. The roots are used to treat migraine, jaundice, skin diseases, urinary issues, and internal abscesses.

“Plumbago zeylanica is an important medicinal plant that is used in different parts of the world as traditional medicine for curing highly infectious diseases. It is widely accepted as ethnomedicine in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Australia. It has innumerable therapeutic applications in various diseases such as sores, ulcers, leprosy, cancer, diabetes, and tuberculosis.”Natural Compounds from Plumbago zeylanica as Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Handbook of Oxidative Stress in Cancer: Therapeutic Aspects

Science Meets Folk Medicine

Modern science has identified salicylic acid in Plumbago, which is in fact used to treat warts and acne. Its roots and leaves have been shown to be packed full of powerful healing compounds.

In the research article ‘Antioxidant properties of Plumbago zeylanica, an Indian medicinal plant and its active ingredient, plumbagin’, the researchers conclude saying that Plumbago is an “unusual antioxidant”:

“The antioxidant effects of PZ and plumbagin include prevention of radical formation, scavenging of primary radicals of biological interest like hydroxyl radicals and of secondary radicals such as peroxyl radicals, thiyl radicals and ABTS… Components of PZ, rich in flavonoids and other phenolic compounds, also can significantly inhibit damage to biological molecules as studied by lipid peroxidation induced by pathophysiologically relevant systems.”

Their studies reveal that “extracts of P. zeylanica and its active ingredient plumbagin have significant antioxidant
abilities that may possibly explain some of the reported therapeutic effects.

In ‘Therapeutic phytochemicals from Plumbago auriculata: a drug discovery paradigm’, the researchers state:

The plant acts as a potential treasure house of several pharmacologically active compounds such as phenols, alkaloids, saponins, flavonoids, steroids, proteins, and carbohydrates… P. auriculata exhibits antimicrobial, antiviral, antidiabetic, anticancer, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiulcer, larvicidal, and antileishmanial activities. Leaf, root, and stem extracts of P. auriculata are also employed for the biofabrication of zinc oxide and silver nanoparticles thereby highlighting its nano-biotechnological prospects.”

As is so often the case, science is proving what our ancestors knew.