Botanical Name: Acacia rugata

Common Name: Shikakai, Rasula, Lasur

English Name: Soap pod

Parts Used: Fruit

Description: A large stragling shrub with more or less hooked prickles. Leaves 2-pinnate, pinnae 12-16, leaflets 30-50, membranous, 1-1.25 cm long; flowers in globose yellow heads, 1-1.25 cm across, arranged in panicle. Pods strap-shaped, straight, 7.6-10 cm long, thick and fleshy.

Uses: Pod is purgative, anthelmintic, anti-diarrhoeal, emetic and diuretic; improves appetite, used in constipation, troubles of kidneys and the bladder; externally they are applied to leprous patches, prurigo, abscesses, eczema and bubos. The seeds are said to facilitate delivery during childbirth. Tender leaves are appetizer and used in hair loss.

References: http://www.mpbd.info/plants/acacia-rugata.php