White fig (Ficus lacor)
Ficus lacor
Ayurvedic Herbalism
Ayurvedic Herbalism

White fig

Ficus lacor

Also known as pakur, pilkhan, Java fig, spotted fig, cluster fig, Indian fig tree, country fig, gular, Plaksha, Parkati, Jati.

CoolingDryingTaste: AstringentTaste: Sweet

Ficus lacor, now treated by most botanists as Ficus virens, is a large deciduous fig tree with a spreading crown, aerial roots and small purplish figs, growing wild and planted as a shade and avenue tree across the plains and foothills of India from Punjab to Assam and down the peninsula, and through Southeast Asia to northern Australia. Ayurveda knows it as Plaksha, one of the five sacred astringent barks of Panchavalkala alongside the banyan, the pipal, the cluster fig and the portia tree, and uses its bark, leaf buds and latex for bleeding, discharge, diarrhea, wounds and vaginal disorders. The tender leaves are eaten as a vegetable in the northeast, and the tree shelters temples and village squares across the country.

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AstringentHemostaticVulneraryAnti-inflammatoryAntidiarrhealAntimicrobial (topical)AntileukorrhealRefrigerantAntiulcer (mucosal)AntioxidantWound healingHypoglycemicHypolipidemicAntimicrobialHepatoprotective (preclinical)Nutritive (fruit)

Indications what the tradition reached for it in

Specific indications

A pitta woman with heavy, hot, prolonged periods, a sore mouth and a tendency to bleed from the gums, who needs a cooling astringent rather than a warming one

Persistent white or yellow vaginal discharge with itching and heat, treated with the bark decoction both as a douche and by mouth

Weeping, oozing eczema or an ulcer that will not dry and close, where a bark wash followed by bark paste is applied

Loose bloody stools with burning in a hot, thirsty patient during the rains

Safety

Pregnancy: No published safety class is known to us; the tradition regards the bark and fruit as safe and even protective in pregnancy, but modern data are absent, so keep to ordinary doses in compound formulas and avoid the latex internally.

The record lists 7 contraindications; open the plate in the library to read them in full.

In practice

The Ayurvedic physician uses Plaksha where tissue is oozing, bleeding or discharging and needs to be dried and knit. The bark decoction is the standard wash for vrana and the standard douche for yoni roga and shveta pradara; taken internally with rice water it checks raktapitta, raktatisara and pradara.

In Ayurveda

Rasa: kashaya (astringent). Virya: sheeta (cooling). Vipaka: katu (pungent). Guna: guru (heavy), ruksha (dry). Dosha: pacifies kapha and pitta; aggravates vata in excess. Karma: stambhana (arrests discharge, styptic); raktastambhana (stops bleeding); vranaropana (heals wounds); shothahara (reduces swelling); yonidoshahara (corrects vaginal disorders); varnya (improves complexion); dahaprashamana (relieves burning); mutrasangrahaniya (reduces urine output, antidiuretic); kaphapittahara (reduces kapha and pitta); vrana shodhana (cleanses wounds); mukhashodhana (cleanses the mouth). Classical indications: raktapitta (bleeding disorders); atisara (diarrhea); pravahika (dysentery); raktatisara (bloody diarrhea); vrana (wounds and ulcers); yoniroga (vaginal disorders); shveta pradara (leukorrhea); prameha (urinary disorders); daha (burning); visarpa (spreading skin inflammation); mukhapaka (mouth ulcers); shotha (swelling); twak roga (skin disease); murcha (fainting, with cold infusion). The stem bark is the main drug, dried and powdered for churna, decocted for kwatha used internally and as a wash, mouth gargle and vaginal douche, and ground into kalka for wounds and skin; the tender leaf buds are given with milk for bleeding disorders, the latex is applied to cracks and piles, and the fruit is eaten. Plaksha is one of the five barks of Panchavalkala, so it is met most often within that group. Classical formulations: Panchavalkala kwatha, Panchavalkala churna, Panchavalkala lepa, Panchavalkala taila, Nyagrodhadi churna, Nyagrodhadi kwatha, Plaksha twak kwatha, Plakshadi lepa. Described in: Charaka Samhita, Sushruta Samhita, Ashtanga Hridaya, Bhavaprakasha Nighantu, Dhanvantari Nighantu, Raja Nighantu, Kaiyadeva Nighantu, Madanapala Nighantu, Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India.

Dosing as the sources wrote it

PreparationAs writtenMetric
Churna3-6 g powdered bark twice daily with rice water or honey3000-6000 mg
Kwatha50-100 mL decoction twice daily50-100 mL
Kwatha, external wash or douche200-500 mL cooled decoction used as a wash once or twice daily200-500 mL
Kalka, topical5-10 g bark paste applied to wounds or skin5000-10000 mg
Leaf bud with milk3-6 g tender leaf buds ground in 100 mL milk once daily3000-6000 mg
Kwatha50-100 mL bark decoction twice daily50-100 mL

Doses are reproduced from the sources for practitioners and are not a recommendation for any person.

From the sources

Overview. Ficus lacor, now treated by most botanists as Ficus virens, is a large deciduous fig tree with a spreading crown, aerial roots and small purplish figs, growing wild and planted as a shade and avenue tree across the plains and foothills of India from Punjab to Assam and down the peninsula, and through Southeast Asia to northern Australia.

Overview. Ficus racemosa, long known as Ficus glomerata, is a large fast growing fig tree of river banks and moist ground across India and southeast Asia, unusual in bearing its figs in dense clusters directly on the trunk and old branches, and it is the sacred udumbara of Vedic ritual, whose wood makes the ladle for the fire. Ayurveda groups its bark with those of the banyan, pipal, plaksha and parisha as the five milky trees of Panchavalkala and uses it as a cooling, astringent, tissue knitting medicine for bleeding, discharges, diarrhea, wounds and diabetes. The unripe fruit is eaten as a vegetable and the latex applied to piles and boils.

Clinical Notes. The Ayurvedic physician uses Plaksha where tissue is oozing, bleeding or discharging and needs to be dried and knit. The bark decoction is the standard wash for vrana and the standard douche for yoni roga and shveta pradara; taken internally with rice water it checks raktapitta, raktatisara and pradara.

Clinical Notes. Udumbara is the Ayurvedic physician's cooling astringent for the pelvis and the bowel. Its bark decoction is given for heavy periods, leukorrhea, bleeding piles, bloody diarrhea and burning urination, and the same decoction serves as a douche, sitz bath, wound wash and gargle.

In formulas

White fig stands in 4 documented formulas in the library, among them Uśīrāsava, Nārāyaṇa Taila, Marma Guṭikā, Hemanātha Rasa.

Often paired with

vetiverChrysopogon zizanioidesbanyanFicus benghalensisIndian fumitoryFumaria indicajatamansiNardostachys jatamansiIndian madderRubia cordifolialodh treeSymplocos racemosa

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