Cortex Calotropidis; Mudar; F. Ecorce de racine de Mudar.
Botanical Origin—The drug under notice is furnished by two nearly allied species of Calotropis, occupying somewhat distinct geographical areas, but not distinguished from each other in the native languages of India. These plants are:—
1. Calotropis procera R. Brown (C. Hamiltonii Wight), a large shrub, 6 or more feet high, with dark green, oval leaves, downy beneath, abounding in acrid milky juice.
It is a native of the drier parts of India, as the Deccan, the Upper Provinces of Bengal, the Punjab and Sind, but is quite unknown in the southern provinces; it also extends to Persia, Palestine, the Sinaitic Peninsula, Arabia, Egypt, to the oasis Dachel, and other oases of the Sahara, to Nubia, Abyssinia, the lake Tsad and through the Sudan. Lastly it has been naturalized in the West Indies.
2. C. gigantea R. Brown (Asclepias gigantea Willd.), a large erect shrub, 6 to 10 feet high, with stem as thick as a man’s leg,[1569] much resembling preceding, indigenous to Lower Bengal and the southern parts of India, Ceylon, the Malayan Peninsula, and the Moluccas.
Both species are extremely common in waste ground over their respective areas.[1570]
History—The ancient name of the plant, which occurs already in the Vedic literature, was Arka (wedge), alluding to the form of the leaves which were used in sacrificial rites. From one of the Sanskrit names of this plant, namely Mandāra, Mudar is a corruption;[1571] the latter is frequently mentioned in the writings of Susruta.
The plant was likewise well known to the Arabian physicians.[1572]
C. procera was observed in Egypt by Prosper Alpinus (1580-84), and upon his return to Italy was figured, and some account given of its medicinal properties.[1573] It is also the “Apocynum syriacum” figured by Clusius.[1574]
C. gigantea was figured by Rheede[1575] in 1679, and in our own day by Wight.[1576]