Agnimantha (Premna integrifolia)

The Controversy of Agnimantha

In the Ayurvedic classics, Agnimantha is considered under the descriptions of Jaya- Dwaya by Charaka Samhita and Ashtanga Hridya. The two drugs namely Agnimantha and Tarkari were quoted simultaneously in several contexts. Amarakosha dealt these two drugs separately with synonyms like Jaya, Jayanti, Nadeya, Vyjayantika for Tarkari and, Shriparni, Agnimantha, Karnika, Ganikarika for Agnimantha. But Bhavamishra enumerated all these synonyms for Agnimantha only. In ancient times two drugs namely Ashwattha and Shami were used for the preparation of fire during Vedic rituals. Acharya Priyavrata Sharma opines that over time these drugs must have been replaced with Agnimantha and Tarkari. Thakur Balvant Singh considers Premna integrifolia Linn.  as Kshuragnimantha i.e thorny Agnimantha and Clerodendrum phlomidis Linn. f as Akshuragnimantha (non-thorny Agnimantha), while other scholars identified them as Brihat and Laghu varieties of Agnimantha. Sharngadhara mentioned Agnimantha-dwaya in the formulation of Varunadika yoga and the commentator Adhamalla interpreted it as Tarkari and Arani. According to this reference, the botanical sources for Tarkari and Arani should be considered as Premna integrifolia and Clerodendrum phlomidis respectively.

External Morphology of Agnimantha

Brihad Agnimantha:

1. Premna integrifolia Linn.

It is a large shrub of 1-2.5 m high, or a small tree, reaching a height of 8m. The trunk is sometimes spiny. 

• Branches: Branches and twigs are somewhat hairy and spinescent. 
• Leaves: Leaves of P. integrifolia are simple, opposite, petiolate, lamina 5-9* 3-6 cm, broadly elliptic, apex shortly acuminate, base rounded or somewhat narrowed, margins entire or upper part toothed, petiole 0.7-1.5cm long.
• Inflorescence: Terminal inflorescence, panicle corymbose cymes. Flowers greenish-yellow emitting a somewhat unpleasant odor, bracts minute, calyx 2mm long, 2-lipped, corolla tube 3mm long with 4 oblong lobes, hairy in the throat, glabrous outside, stamens 4. 
• Fruit: Pear-shaped, 4mm long, bony, ridged, and 4 – seeded.
• Flowering and fruiting time

1. Flowering – December-March
2. Fruiting – February onwards

2. Premna mucronata Roxb.

• Habit: It is a small tree.
• Bark: Thin, pale, exfoliating.
• Branches: Spiney.
• Leaves: Ovate-oblong, long acuminate, base rounded, cordate or tapering, entire or irregularly dentate.
• Flowers: Arranged in terminal, corymbose, trichotomous panicles and are greenish.
• Fruits: A globose drupe, green when young, dark at maturity.
• Seeds: Dark color.

Kshudra Agnimantha

1. Clerodendrum phlomidis Linn. f

It is a large shrub of 2-3m high with profuse branching, sometimes attaining a height of 6m to become a small tree. 

• Branches: Branches and twigs are more or less hairy, and lighter in weight when dried. 
• Leaves: Leaves are simple, opposite, petiolate, lamina 4-6*3-4 cm, ovate-sub-rhomboid in shape, apex- obtuse-angled, base– truncate – subcordate, margins- coarsely crenate dentate, petiole 1.5-2 cm long.
• Inflorescence: Few–flowered, dichotomous, axillary cymes or arranged to form terminal panicles, bracts leafy, calyx divided halfway down. Lobes acute, corolla white or shaded with pink, tubular, 2-2.5cm long, lobes 5, elliptic, obtuse, slightly hairy outside, stamens 4.
• Fruit: Fruit is a 4-lobed drupe, about 0.6 cm long, broadly obovoid, depressed, exceeding the persistent calyx, with one nutlet in each lobe, sometimes1-3 nutlets abortive, leaving behind only one to mature.

Flowering and fruiting time

1. Flowering – Throughout the year.
2. Fruiting – September-March.

Diagnostic Characters of Bark of Premna integrifolia and Clerodendrum phlomidis.

Premna integrifolia

• Shape: Cylindrical, gnarled roots or their longitudinally split pieces.
• Surface: Surface rough, longitudinally wrinkled, yellowish-brown in color with small round root scars. The debarked surface is silky yellow and longitudinally striated. The surface of the transversely cut root shows a closely adhering thin bark, followed by a narrow cortical region, a large woody portion with prominent concentric rings, and a small central pith.
• Fracture: Short
• Odor: Mild and pleasant
• Taste: Astringent

Clerodendrum phlomidis

• Shape: Pieces of cylindrical split somewhat twisted, gradually tapering roots, up to 3 cm in diameter.
• Surface: Surface is longitudinally fissured, yellowish-brown in color, transversely cut portion shows a creamish yellow. Surface enclosed by an easily separating thin bark, well-defined annual rings, and a central pith of dark brown color.
• Size: The bark occurs in small flat or slightly curved and friable pieces of 1.5 to 2 mm thickness. These have a brown exfoliating inner surface.
• Fracture: Short
• Odor: Slightly pungent
• Taste: Bitter