SPIGELIA ANTHELMIA
WORMBUSH.
Synonym: anthelmia quadriphylla.
Common name: pinkroot, wormbush, Indian pink, worm grass, erva - lombrigueira, Demerara pinkroot, pink root, kromantikankan, kromanti - kankan.
Wormbush is an tropical annual weed, growing not higher than foot; it is common in Suriname.
At the stem, which is scarcely branched, are short stalked, feather
lobed leaves set like a whorl.
The spikes with small purple flowers come out of the midle of the whorl. The flowers are on one side of the spike and they open in the afternoon. The fruit is a 2-lobed, capsule with warty seeds.
Wormbush or pinkroot is very poisonous; it contains the alkaloid spigeliin that acts upon the heart, especially the endocardium.
In large doses it debilitates the heart.
Roots of Demerara pinkroot has acro-narcotic qualities.
In Suriname's traditional medicine the plant is used against headache, throbbing pain, neuralgia, stabbing violent pain, vermifuge, congestion and as an expeller of intestinal worms.
Homeopathic image
Psychic: fear of sharp objects. Awakened by the pain. Theme: crossing the swordsmen.
Generals: Worse tobacco smoke.
Physical: left-sided neuralgia (face and round eye). Heart and eye complaints. Glaucoma. Worms. Strabismus. Angina pectoris. Severe pains.