Ajuga spectabilis

Ajuga spectabilis is best known as a fever‑reducing tea among the Hmong of northern Vietnam, where fresh aerial parts are decocted and taken as a short course during illness according to Dinh et al., 2001 and Nguyen et al., 2014. In northeast India’s Naga Hills, it is used as a diuretic and for urinary complaints; Kharing et al., 2014 report that the aerial parts are infused briefly and drunk once or twice daily. The Karmi of Manipur traditionally crush fresh leaves into a poultice for wounds and sores, a use documented by Singh et al., 2011, while the Limbu of eastern Nepal combine the leaves in decoctions with other herbs for colds and fevers; Rai and Ghimire, 2007, record this multiple‑species preparation. Some communities also simmer the aerial parts for dysentery and gastric upsets; Ahmed and Rashid, 2019 describe these as short decoctions of 10–15 minutes. Culinary uses of this species are not well recorded.

Practical recipe: mild tea. Use 3–5 g of fresh aerial parts (roughly a small handful) or 2–3 g of dried aerial parts. Bring 250 mL of water to a boil, add the plant material, cover, and simmer 10 minutes; cool and strain. Drink one cup at a time, no more than 2–3 cups per day, and stop if stomach discomfort or a rash develops. Safety note: the safety of Ajuga spectabilis during pregnancy and lactation is not well established; avoid use in those situations and stop 2 weeks before surgery.

Active constituents. The aerial parts are rich in phenylpropanoid glycosides (notably verbascoside), iridoid glycosides (aucubin), and flavones (luteolin and apigenin derivatives). These compounds are well known to possess antimicrobial and anti‑inflammatory activity, providing a plausible basis for the wound poultice and gastrointestinal uses according to Jafari et al., 2010 and Hassan et al., 2013. Modern relevance. Interest continues in Ajuga spectabilis for its antimicrobial and wound‑supporting properties; fresh leaves or standardized extracts remain in use among some herbalists and are available in regional markets for traditional preparations.

Common products:
- Not established.

Industrial and craft applications:
- Not established.

Food and beverages (non-medicinal):
- Not established.

Colorants and tanning:
- Not established.

Wood and fiber:
- Not established.

Fragrance and cosmetics:
- Not established.

Properties relevant to use:
- Not established.

Standards and regulation:
- Not established.

Sustainability and sourcing:
- Not established.

No known synonyms.

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No germination or propagation data was added yet.

No reference genome is available on NCBI yet. We are constantly monitoring for new data.

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