Cotoneaster suavis

Plant Name

Cotoneaster suavis Pojark.

Botanical Info

Deciduous shrub ,height: 2.4 m.

Geography:

The plant grows in Western Himalayas from Kashmir to Kuman. It is widely spread from Siberia and Kabul to France. It forms shrubby thickets and grows on stony slopes. Reaches elevations of up to 2400 metres.

Chemical Content

According to the recent studies, the plant contains 7,8-dimethoxy-6-hydroxycoumarin, trimethylellagic acid, cereotagloperoxide, scopoletin, beta- sitosterol, beta- sitosterol glucopyranoside, ursolic acid, cotonoats A,B, racemiside A.

Traditional Use and Activity

The plant has a bitter and sharp taste and has medicinal use in Indo-China. The plant is used in traditional medicine as cooling, laxative, aperient, astringent, expectorant and stomachic agent. Edible parts of Black-Wood yields a manna-like substance called shir-khist, which is rich in sugars. It contains about 13% sacchrose, 37.5% dextrose. There is no details to which part of the plant yields the manna and it most likely is coming from the stem. Other uses of the herb: a rose-tan dye is obtained from the fruit; the wood is used in basket weaving.