Botanical Name: Acacia rugata
Common Name: Shikakai, Rasula, Lasur
English Name: Soap pod
Parts Used: Fruit
Description: A large stragling shrub with more or less hooked prickles. Leaves 2-pinnate, pinnae 12-16, leaflets 30-50, membranous, 1-1.25 cm long; flowers in globose yellow heads, 1-1.25 cm across, arranged in panicle. Pods strap-shaped, straight, 7.6-10 cm long, thick and fleshy.
Uses: Pod is purgative, anthelmintic, anti-diarrhoeal, emetic and diuretic; improves appetite, used in constipation, troubles of kidneys and the bladder; externally they are applied to leprous patches, prurigo, abscesses, eczema and bubos. The seeds are said to facilitate delivery during childbirth. Tender leaves are appetizer and used in hair loss.