BENGALURU: Inflamed, itchy skin that usually appears on the neck, behind the creases of elbows, knees or between buttocks can be the signs of eczema. It is reported that environmental pollution and allergic pollens can also cause eczema in humans, besides high-stress levels and unhealthy food habits. It may cause even blisters, based on the severity of the conditions.
External application of a poultice of the crushed leaves of Indian Strawberry is recommended for eczema in our traditional systems of medicine. Raw berries are said to be edible; fresh leaves are used in salads and dried leaves are used to prepare tea. Indian Strawberry is scientifically known as Potentilla indica (Jacks.) Th. Woulf, belonging to the Rose flower family Rosaceae, where the generic epithet Potentilla, meaning potential or strong, in allusion to its potential medicinal uses. Specific epithet indica refers to its Indian origin.
P. indica is a creeping, perennial plant. Branches are reddish in colour, rooting at nodes, herbaceous, wiry, with long spreading hairs. Leaves are 3-foliate; leaflets rhomboid, up to 4 cm long and 2 cm broad, hairy on both the surfaces; sharply saw-edged along margins. Flowers are solitary, axillary, 2 cm across, bright yellow in colour; petals 5, obovate, prominently striated, slightly exceeding the sepals; stalks up to 10 cm long.
Sepals are hairy; outer ones broader than inner sepals, 3-5-toothed at apex; inner ones are ovate-lanceolate, apex acute to acuminate. Stamens are 20-25 in numbers, bright yellow. Fruits are berries, 2 cm long and 1.5 cm broad, ovoid, very fleshy, juicy, red in colour, glossy, and tasteless. It is found throughout the North and Western Himalayas at altitudinal range of 700 to 2,500 metres above sea level. It is also introduced in gardening as an ornamental ground cover to limit the growth of other weeds.