Phyllanthus Amarus, Kilanell, Kilakkainelli, Child pick-a-back, bhuiamla, gulf leafflower, black catnip, meniran, chanca piedra, shatterstone, stone breaker, quebra pedra, bahupatra, gale of wind, carry me seed, hsieh hsia chu.

Botanical description:

                                    A branching annual glabrous herb 30-60 cm high with slender,                              spreading leaf-bearing branchlets: leaves numerous, distichous, subsessile, elliptic-oblong, obtuse, base rounded; flowers yellowish, greenish or whitish, axillary, males in groups of 1-3, females solitary; fruits depressed-globose smooth capsules underneath the branches, seeds trigonous, pale brown with longitudinal parallel ribs on the back.

    Habitat:    Throughout India, as weed in cultivated and waste lands

  Parts used: Whole plant

Pharmacology:

                    An inhibition of DNA polymerase of Hepatitis B virus and a viral-agglutinating activity has been shown.

      Properties and uses:

                             The plant is bitter, astringent, sweet, cooling, diuretic, deobstruant, stomachic, febrifuge and antiseptic. It is useful in gastropathy, dropsy, jaundice, diarrhoea, dysentery, intermittent fevers, ophthalmopathy, diseases of the urino-genital system, scabies, ulcers and wounds.