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**Khareti or Bala (Sida cordifolia Linn.)**

Pankaj Oudhia
Society for Parthenium Management (SOPAM)
28-A, Geeta Nagar, Raipur - 492001 India
pankajoudhia@gmail.com
www.pankajoudhia.com

Khareti or Bala (Sida cordifolia Linn.)

Scientific Name: Sida cordifolia Linn.
Family: Malvaceae
English Name: Country Mallow
Hindi Name: Khareti, Bala, Barial, Kumghi.

Botanical differences among the major species of Sida in India.

	S. cordifolia	S. acuta syn. S. carpinifolia	S. alba syn. S. spinosa	S. ovata syn. S. grewioides	S. rhommbifolia	S. tiagii
Plant	An erect, perennial undershrub, upto 1m. Tall	A much branched undershrub, 1-2 m tall	An erect undershrub, densely stellately pubescent all over	An erect shrub or undershrub,	An erect undershurb	A low, much branched, perennial undershrub, densely stellately-tomentose all over
Stem	Ascending, terete or sulcate, softly villious and densely stellate-pubescent all over	Glabrous or minutely stellately hairy, usually woody at the base		grey, tomentose, with stellate hairs	Stellately hairy, sulcate	Terete or sulcate, woody at base
Leaves	Ovate or ovate-oblong, obtuse or subacute at apex	Lanceolate or elliptic lanceolate, base obtuse or roundish, apex acute	Elliptic oblong, lanceolate or ovate, obtuse or rounded at apex	Elliptic-oblong or oblong-ovate, obtuse at apex	Oblong to lanceolate, rhomboid, cunneate, obtuse or rarely acute at apex	Ovate-oblong to obovate, roudned, entire, rounded or truncate at apex
Flowers	Yellow, peduncles, axillary, jointed much above the panicles, upper flowers nearly sessile and fasciculate towards the tip of the branches forming subspicate inflorescence	Petals pale yellow, ciliate	Fascicled in the axil of leaves, rarely solitary, Corolla white	Petals yellow	Petals yellow	Pale yellow
Fruits	Subdiscoid, 6-8 mm across, mericarps 10, 3 sided	Mericarps 5-6, 4 mm long, reticulately serrate	Mericarps 5, more or less finely reticulate	Mericarps 7-8, nearly glabrous	mericarps 8-12, pubescent	Pentagular ovoid, Mericarps 7-8
Seeds	Trigonous, glabours, tufted-pubescent near the hilum	Smooth glabrous, but pubscent around hilum	Smooth, dark brown, rounded at back, trigonous, glabous	Brown, smooth, with stellate hairs near the hilum	Smooth, glabrous, except for the pubescent area near the hilum	Black, glabrous with tufts of stellate hairs at hilum
Flowering & Fruiting Time	Sept.-Dec. in Indian conditions	Sept-Oct. in Indian conditions	Sept.-Jan. in Indian conditions	Oct.-Jan. in Indian conditions	Aug.-Oct. in Indian conditions	Aug.-Dec. in Indian conditions

General Description: It grows as wasteland weed. It is in use as folk medicine in India since time immemorial.

Useful Parts: Root, bark, leaves, flowers and seeds.

Traditional Medicinal Uses: According to Ayurveda, the plant is tonic, astringent, emollient, aphrodisiac and useful in treatment of respiratory system related troubles. Bark is considered as cooling. It is useful in blood, throat, urinary system related troubles, piles, phthisis, insanity etc.

Ayurvedic Preparations: Maha baladi Kvatha, Bala Taila etc.

References
Agharkar, S.P. (1991). Medicinal plants of Bombay presidency. Pbl. Scientific publishers, Jodhpur, India : 194-195.
Bhandari, M.M. (1990). Flora of Indian desert. Pbl. MPS Repros, Jodhpur, India : 66-69.

Resource Person
Pankaj Oudhia
Society for Parthenium Management (SOPAM)
28-A, Geeta Nagar, Raipur - 492001 India
pankajoudhia@gmail.com
archive.org/details/pankajoudhia
www.youtube.com/user/pankajoudhia?feature=results_main
www.flickr.com/photos/pankajoudhia/

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