Rotula aquatica

Rotula aquatica is a species of aromatic flowering plant belonging to the family Boraginaceae.^[2] This shrub is a rare rheophyte native to India, where it is a member of the lotic ecosystem of streams.^[3]

Rotula aquatica
Rotula aquatica leaves and flowers
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Boraginales
Family:	Boraginaceae
Genus:	Rotula
Species:	R. aquatica
Binomial name
Rotula aquatica Lour.
Synonyms[2]
List Ehretia aquatica (Lour.) Gottschling & Hilger Rhabdia aquatica (Lour.) Kuntze Bourreria uniflora (Roxb.) G.Don Carmona lycioides G.Don Carmona viminea G.Don Ehretia cuneata Wight Ehretia lycioides (Mart.) Gottschling & Hilger Ehretia lycioides (G.Don) Wall. ex B.D.Jacks. Ehretia uniflora Roxb. Ehretia viminea (G.Don) Wall. ex DC. Rhabdia fluvialis Edgew. Rhabdia lycioides Mart. Rhabdia sericea Edgew. Rhabdia viminea (G.Don) Dalzell ex Hook. Rotula lycioides (Mart.) I.M.Johnst. Zombiana africana Baill.

The plant is a mandatory component of many ayurvedic drug preparations and is an important traditional medicine for kidney and bladder stones. The root tuber is astringent, bitter, diuretic and also useful in treating coughs, heart diseases, dysuria, blood disorders, fever, poisonings, ulcers and uterine diseases.^[4] Root decoctions are both diuretic and laxative and are used to treat bladder stones and sexually transmitted diseases.^[5] Plants were exploited for their medicinal properties by excavating the roots, causing them to die. A study has shown that a protocol consisting of ex vitro rooting, commercial sugar, and tap water, can be economically advantageous.^[6]