Flower of the Sun-Calotropis gigantea

The Crown flower Calotropis gigantea is a wild flower in this part of the world. Its Sanskrit name is Arka, which also means the sun. The crown shape of this flower hasgiven it the common name. Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii considered the flower a symbol of rayalty and wore leis made from the flowers.

There is a white variety of the Crown flower too, which is considered more useful for medicinal purposes. There are many medicinal uses for the whole plant in Ayurveda. One very effective folk remedy to take out splinters from your hand is to put one or two drops of the white milk of the plant on the attected place, and after half an hour, the thorn will come out by itself. Very useful for gardeners.

One or two leaves in the bath water will prevent skin infections during winter.