Common name: Sensitive Smithia • Hindi: Odabirni • Marathi: लजालू कवला Lajalu kavla • Bengali: Nalakashina
Botanical name: Smithia sensitiva Family: Fabaceae (Pea family)
Sensitive Smithia is a low-gowing annual herb, 30-90 cm, common along the
roads. It appears at waning of the monsoons. Compound leaves are slightly
sensitive to touch. There are 3-10 pairs of oblong leaflets, each 6-12 mm
long. Yellow pea-like flowers occur in racemes of 2-6, arising from leaf
axils. Flowers are 1.3 cm long. Pods are flat, 1 cm long. Flowers are eaten by the red black spotted blister beetles. Leaves and pods are cooked and eaten. Flowering: August-October.
Medicinal uses: The herb is boiled and given for gravel and
difficulty in micturition. Leaves are refigerant, stimulate flow of milk in
mothers. Leaves juice is used as lotion in headaches.
| Photographed in Alibag, Maharashtra. |
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