Description

Holarrhena pubescens, the conessi tree or tellicherry bark tree, is a deciduous shrub or small tree of the family Apocynaceae, widely distributed across the tropical and subtropical forests of the Indian subcontinent from the Himalayan foothills and the Gangetic plains to peninsular India and Sri Lanka. The bark — pale grey-brown and rough-textured — is one of the most documented Ayurvedic drugs for conditions of the intestinal tract. Known in Ayurveda as Kutaja, the bark is cited in the Charaka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita as a primary anti-amoebic and anti-dysenteric herb in formulations including Kutajarishta and Kutaja Ghana Vati — both listed in the Ayurvedic Formulary of India. The bark contains conessine and related steroidal alkaloids that have attracted sustained phytochemical investigation. Commercially harvested in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh.