Description

Pluchea lanceolata, Indian camphorweed, is a perennial shrub of the family Asteraceae, native to the dry sandy and saline soils of the Indian subcontinent — particularly Rajasthan, Gujarat, Sindh, and Punjab — often growing in semi-arid wasteland and salt flat margins. The plant produces lance-shaped, camphor-scented leaves and small pinkish flower heads. Known in classical Ayurveda as Rasna — one of the ten important herbs in the Dashemani Vata-alleviating group — the leaves are extensively cited in the Charaka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita for preparations addressing Vata disorders, particularly rheumatism, arthritis, and neuromuscular conditions. The classical formulation Rasnaadi Kwatha, incorporating Pluchea lanceolata as the principal ingredient, is listed in the Ayurvedic Formulary of India. Commercially harvested across the arid belt of Rajasthan and Gujarat.