What is chitrak used for?

Chitrak root is a classical Ayurvedic remedy associated with digestion (agni); this is a traditional, attributed use and not medical advice.

How do you identify chitrak?

Look for a straggling shrub with spikes of white tubular flowers whose sticky, hairy green calyx clings to clothes.

✿Plumbaginaceae · Plumbago

Chitrak / White Plumbago

Plumbago zeylanica

Also known as De Ceylon Lead Wort, Ceylon Leadwort, Lead Wort, White Leadwort, Wild Plumbago

UndershrubMedicinal

Habit: Undershrub
Found in India: Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu & more
Flowering: Throughout the year

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How to identify Chitrak

Identify Chitrak by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.

Look for a undershrub habit.
Check the distinctive field mark: Clusters of white flowers with sticky glandular calyces.
Confirm leaf shape: Ovate.
Confirm flower colour: White.
Confirm fruit type: Capsule.
Use the leaf pattern: alternate leaf arrangement, simple leaves, entire leaf margins, pinnate venation.
In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: Throughout the year.

Plant Details

Scientific name: Plumbago zeylanica
Genus: Plumbago
Family: Plumbaginaceae
Habit: Undershrub
Habitat: Deciduous forests, also in the plains
Habitat type: Forest
Distribution: Pantropical
Found in India: Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Kerala, Rajasthan, Gujarat, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Punjab, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Odisha, Puducherry, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh
Flowering & fruiting: Throughout the year
Conservation status: Not Evaluated (NE)

Leaf characters

Leaf shape: OvaterecordedEgg-shaped, broader near the base.“The leaves are petiolate or sessile and have ovate, lance-elliptic, or spatulate to oblanceolate blades that measure 5-9 × 2.5–4 cm in length.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Typical of the family

Arrangement: Alternate
Type: Simple
Margin: Entire
Venation: Pinnate

Characters marked “recorded” are for Chitrak itself; the rest are typical of the Plumbaginaceae family.

Flower & fruit characters

Flower colour: Whiterecorded“The heterostylous flowers have white corollas 17–33 mm in diameter and tubes 12.5–28 mm in length.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Fruit type: CapsulerecordedA dry fruit from a fused ovary that splits open at maturity to release seeds.“Capsules are 7.5–8 mm long and contain are reddish brown to dark brown seeds.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Characters marked “recorded” are for Chitrak itself; the rest are typical of the Plumbaginaceae family — flowering plants only.

Local Names

Hindi: चित्रक Chitrak
Bengali: Safaid-sitarak, চিত্রা
Tamil: சித்திர மூலம் Chittiramoolam karimai, சித்தரகம்
Kannada: ಚಿತ್ರಮೂಲ Chitramula, ಚಿತ್ರಮೂಲಿಕೆ Chitramulike, ಚಿತ್ರಕ Chitraka
Malayalam: Vellakoduveli, വെള്ളക്കൊടുവേലി, Plumbago zeylanica
Marathi: चित्रक

Chitrak in India

Chitrak is a straggling shrub long used in Ayurveda for its pungent root — चित्रक Chitrak (Hindi), சித்திர மூலம் Chittiramoolam karimai (Tamil), ಚಿತ್ರಮೂಲ Chitramula (Kannada), Vellakoduveli (Malayalam), चित्रक (Marathi), Safaid-sitarak (Bengali). Plumbago zeylanica is recorded across Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Kerala, Rajasthan, in hedges, scrub and gardens.

Uses

Its root (chitrakmool) is a classical Ayurvedic remedy associated with digestion and metabolism — an attributed traditional use described for information, not medical advice. The plant is acrid and the root a skin irritant, so it is used in tradition, not eaten casually.

How to Identify Chitrak

A straggling perennial with thin, weak branches and oval leaves. It bears slender spikes of pure white, five-lobed tubular flowers whose green calyx is covered in sticky, gland-tipped hairs that cling to clothing and insects — a useful field mark.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is White Plumbago called in different Indian languages?: चित्रक Chitrak (Hindi); சித்திர மூலம் Chittiramoolam karimai (Tamil); ಚಿತ್ರಮೂಲ Chitramula (Kannada); Vellakoduveli (Malayalam); चित्रक (Marathi); Safaid-sitarak (Bengali).
What is chitrak used for?: Chitrak root is a classical Ayurvedic remedy associated with digestion (agni); this is a traditional, attributed use and not medical advice.
How do you identify chitrak?: Look for a straggling shrub with spikes of white tubular flowers whose sticky, hairy green calyx clings to clothes.

Botanical family

Plumbaginaceae

Leadwort Or The Plumbago Family

Chitrak belongs to the Plumbaginaceae family.

The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.

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Common plant problems

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Sources: GBIF — Plumbago zeylanica (India distribution & vernacular names) (CC BY 4.0) · iNaturalist — Plumbago zeylanica (regional names, India observations) (CC BY 4.0) · Wikipedia — Plumbago zeylanica (background/comprehension only) (CC BY-SA 4.0)