Page 504 - e-Book

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Fresh Alternanthera sessilis(Ponnanganni), were collected from different location of
Agastheswaram, Kanyakumari district. The plants were identified taxonomically.

Alternanthera sessilis (family Amaranthaceae) is usually a burgundy foliage plant that
spreads on the ground and works well for edging, annual groundcover or in a formal knot

garden. It performs well in high heat where its colour becomes deeper and richer. It’s a dense

mat forming plant with annual tops, a fleshy, perennial rootstock, reddish, and hairy stems.
The plant has been used as medication for gastrointestinal disease, and traditional Mexican

medicine for the treatment of diarrhoea and dysentery. Moreover plants have major

advantage of still being the most effective and cheaper alternative source of drugs (Pretorious
and Watt, 2001) Moreover plants have major advantage of still being the most effective and

cheaper alternative source of drugs (Pretorious and Watt, 2001)

Plant profile

Botanical name : Alternanthera sessilis

Kingdom: Plantae

Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Amaranthaceae

Genus: Alternanthera

Species: sessilis

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