Sida cordifolia

Sanskrit: Bala

Part used: Root, sometimes leaves and stem.

Grows wild along roadsides throughout the tropical and sub-tropical plains of India and Sri Lanka.

Medicinal and Healing Applications:  Analgesic, aphrodisiac, demulcent, diuretic, nervine, rejuvenative, stimulant, tonic, vulnerary

Roots of these species are: aromatic, astringent, bitter, cooling, demulcent, diuretic, febrifuge, stomachic, and tonic.

Indian scientists in 1930 reported the presence of a sympathomimetic alkaloid in this herb whose pharmacological action closely resembled that of ephedrine and they thought that the alkaloid was undoubtedly ephedrine. Later work has shown that the sympathomimetic alkaloid had showed all the chemical and physical characteristics of ephedrine. This explains the widespread use of this herb in Ayurveda as a cardiac stimulant. The seeds are considered to be aphrodisiac.

Bala and other special massage oils or Tailams (21 to 101 times boiled) are Ayurvedic herbal oils that contains Bala and upto 47 other substances prepared in oil and cows milk. It is recommended for all disorders produced by the derangement of vata dosha, emaciation, weakness, diseases of generative organs, paralysis and rheumatism.