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Withania somnifera
Also called Winter cherry, Ashwagandha, Indian Ginseng, Poison Gooseberry, Poisonous Gooseberry, Rennet
Withania somnifera, known as ashwagandha or winter cherry, is a short evergreen shrub from the Nightshade family, grown mainly for its roots in traditional medicine. It thrives in dry, well-drained soil in full sun to partial shade.
Withania somnifera, known commonly as ashwagandha, is an evergreen shrub in the Solanaceae family that is native to the Middle East and North Africa, other African regions, southern Europe, the Indian subcontinent, and Southeast Asia. Several other species in the genus Withania are morphologically similar. Other common names include Indian ginseng and winter cherry.
Withania somnifera is a short shrub 35–75 cm (14–30 in) tall with tomentose branches, dull green elliptic leaves up to 10–12 cm (3.9–4.7 in) long, small green bell-shaped flowers, and orange-red ripe fruit. It is affected by various pests and diseases in India, which can damage plant health and reduce its secondary metabolite content.
Withania somnifera is cultivated in many of the drier regions of India. It is also found in Nepal, Sri Lanka, China, and Yemen. It prefers dry, stony soil with sun to partial shade. It can be propagated from seeds in the early spring or from greenwood cuttings in the later spring.
The main phytochemical constituents of W. somnifera are withanolides, a group of triterpene lactones that include withaferin A, alkaloids, steroidal lactones, tropine, and cuscohygrine. Forty withanolides, twelve alkaloids, and various sitoindosides have been isolated from this plant species. As these withanolides are structurally similar to the ginsenosides of Panax ginseng, W. somnifera is commonly referred to as "Indian ginseng".
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Withania somnifera 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.
