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Four Thorns

Azima tetracantha

Also called Needle Bush, Bee Sting, Bee Sting Bush, Beehanger, Beesting, Four Fingers, Stink Bush

Four Thorns
Photo: Frank Vincentz, CC BY-SA 3.0

Azima tetracantha is a spiny shrub or small tree in the Salvador family, native to tropical and southern Africa, the western Indian Ocean and South Asia through to Myanmar. It is grown as an ornamental and is valued in Ayurveda, and it does best in warm, sunny conditions with little water.

Family
Salvadoraceae (Salvador family)
Grows as
Shrub
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Water deeply but infrequently, letting the soil dry out between waterings.
Soil
Well-drained sandy or loamy soil.
Temperature
18-35 °C; protect below 10 °C
How easy
Moderate
Native range
Trop. & S. Africa, W. Indian Ocean, Indian Subcontinent to Myanmar
Climate
seasonally dry tropical

About

Azima tetracantha (syn. Monetia barlerioides L'Her.) is an ornamental plant in the Salvadoraceae family. Common Name: Bee Sting Bush. This plant is commonly known as 'Yashankala' in ayurveda. Its foliage is an important medicine for post-pregnancy treatments, the same is also used for 'karkidaka treatments' which is famous in Kerala.

Other Azima plants

Azima sarmentosa · Azima

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Azima tetracantha by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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