Family : Combretaceae

English : Arjun

Hindi : Arjun, Kahu, Kahua

Gujarati : Arjuna

Sanskrit : Arjunah, Kakubh

Part used : Bark

Botanical Description:  A large, evergreen tree with butteressed trunk and spreading crown with drooping branches, bark smooth, grey outside and flesh coloured inside, flaking off in large flat pieces; leaves simple, subopposite oblong or elliptic, coriaceous, crenate, pale dull green above, pale brown beneath, often unequal sided nerves, 10-15 pairs, reticulate; flowers white in panicles of spikes with linear bractoles; Fruits ovoid or oblong with 5-7 short, hard angles or wings, the lines on the wings oblique and curving upwards. Flowering- fruting January to June.

It is found throughout India.

Modern Pharmacological Action: Arjuna is a known potent cardiotonic since ancient times. It also exhibited antimicrobial activities against bacteria S. typhii, K. pneumonae, P, aeruginosa, and B. subtilis and four yeast species Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis, Candida parapsilosis and Cryptococcus neoformans respectively. Many xanthons and anthraquinons have shown this type of activity.