Shankhpushpi: Four Plants, One Name, and What the Syrup Really Holds
Shankhpushpi (sankhaholi in Unani) is not one plant. At least four different species are sold under the name across South Asia, and the bottle of “shankhpushpi syrup” in your cupboard may contain a different herb from the one in the pharmacopoeia, or mostly sugar with a little of several herbs. This page is about identity: which plant is which, how to tell the two common ones apart in the field and on a label, and how small the evidence behind the memory claims really is.
Before you buy
- English: no settled name; “prostrate bindweed” for the official plant, “dwarf morning glory” or “slender dwarf morning glory” for the trade plant
- Urdu/Hindi: shankhpushpi, shankhahuli, shankh pushpi; Urdu plant names sireen and dodak
- Unani: sankhaholi or shankhaholi, usually Evolvulus alsinoides
- Official plant (Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India): Convolvulus pluricaulis, now called Convolvulus prostratus
- Other plants sold as it: Evolvulus alsinoides, Clitoria ternatea (blue pea, aparajita), Canscora decussata
- Part used: the whole herb (leaves, stems, flowers, roots), dried
- Traditional role: a medhya rasayana, a memory and nerve tonic; also for sleep, anxiety and fits
- Safety flag: low, but syrups are sugar-heavy and may lower blood pressure a little; may interfere with the seizure medicine phenytoin
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Which plant is the real shankhpushpi?
The name means “conch flower” in Sanskrit, after a flower shaped like a small shankh (conch). That description fits more than one plant, and over centuries different regions settled on different ones. A 2009 review in the Journal of Chinese Integrative Medicine counted four species travelling under the name: Convolvulus pluricaulis, Evolvulus alsinoides, Clitoria ternatea and Canscora decussata. Indian pharmacognosy papers call shankhpushpi a classic “controversial drug” for exactly this reason.
| Plant | Where it is “shankhpushpi” | What it looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Convolvulus prostratus (pluricaulis) | North India; the pharmacopoeia’s official choice | Flat, spreading, velvety-hairy herb; narrow leaves; white to pale pink funnel flowers 1 to 1.3 cm |
| Evolvulus alsinoides | Most of the trade; Unani sankhaholi; vishnukranta in the south | Slender silky-hairy herb; tiny leaves; pale blue flowers 6 to 8 mm |
| Clitoria ternatea (blue pea) | South India, Bengal; “blue tea” products | Climbing vine; large deep blue pea-like flowers; a legume |
| Canscora decussata | Some eastern and southern texts | Small erect herb of the gentian family; white flowers |
The practical upshot: a Rajasthani powder, a Hyderabadi hakeem’s sankhaholi and a Chennai “shankhpushpi tea” can be three different plants with three different chemistries. The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India chose Convolvulus pluricaulis to end the argument on paper; the market never followed. Researchers in 2016 even built a DNA test to tell Convolvulus prostratus from Evolvulus alsinoides in powdered trade samples, because by eye it cannot be done once the herb is ground.
Shankhpushpi flower in English: the photo trap
The check most buyers get backwards
Search for “shankhpushpi flower” and most pictures show a big, deep blue flower. That is blue pea, Clitoria ternatea, aparajita, the plant behind colour-changing “blue tea”. The pharmacopoeia’s shankhpushpi, Convolvulus prostratus, has a small white to pale pink funnel flower on a hairy mat of a plant, and the trade’s Evolvulus has a tiny pale blue flower the size of a fingernail. So: big and royal blue means blue pea, a legume; small and white or pink means the official herb; small and pale blue means Evolvulus. If a seller shows you a blue-pea picture and calls it shankhpushpi, the product is probably blue pea too.
Telling the two common ones apart in the field
Both are low, hairy, weedy herbs of dry sandy ground, collected whole, roots and all, after the monsoon. Convolvulus prostratus lies flat, with velvety stems 10 to 40 cm long, narrow leaves up to 3 cm, and white or pale pink flowers that open like a miniature morning glory. Evolvulus alsinoides is more slender and silvery, thin and sprawling rather than mat-forming, with tiny leaves and very small pale blue flowers. Evolvulus is a plant of American origin that naturalised across the Old World long ago, which makes its place in ancient Sanskrit texts doubtful and supports Convolvulus as the older identity.
Where it comes from and how it is sold
Almost all shankhpushpi is wild-collected from fields and scrub in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and the Deccan, dried whole and sold as a greyish chopped herb, as powder, or as the base of syrups and tablets. Pakistan’s pansaris stock sankhaholi, usually Evolvulus from Sindh and Punjab. The dried herb smells faintly of hay and tastes slightly bitter and astringent.
What tradition says it does
Ayurveda lists shankhpushpi among the four medhya rasayanas, herbs said to sharpen medha (intellect) and steady the mind, alongside brahmi, mandukaparni and guduchi. It was given with milk or ghee for memory, for sleeplessness, for anxiety and “hysteria”, and for apasmara (epilepsy). Unani adopted sankhaholi as a mufarreh (gladdening) and muqawwi-e-dimagh (brain tonic) herb for the same purposes, and it sits in several compound brain tonics next to brahmi.
What the evidence actually shows
This is the part the syrup adverts skip. The 2020 review in Frontiers in Pharmacology that catalogued everything known about Convolvulus prostratus found an elaborate list of animal and cell-culture findings (memory tasks in rodents, antioxidant and anti-anxiety signals, protection of nerve cells in dishes) and then stated plainly that detailed clinical investigations in people are yet to be done. An independent evidence summary by the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation found just two small open-label human studies, neither of them randomised against placebo, and one of them on a multi-herb product in schoolchildren that cannot tell you what shankhpushpi alone did.
Reasonably supported: nothing at the level a doctor would prescribe on.
Preliminary: calming and memory effects in rodents; small, uncontrolled human studies on memory and anxiety, mostly in combination products.
Tradition only: sleep, “weak brain”, exam memory, fits.
Unsupported: that any syrup makes a child score higher, or that it replaces epilepsy medicine. Gentle, plausible, unproven
The exam and memory question, including the brahmi comparison and what students can fairly expect, is already covered on brahmi and shankhpushpi for exam memory, on majoon brahmi, and for children by age on brahmi for kids. Study habits that do work live on the exam stress page. None of that is repeated here.
How to read a shankhpushpi syrup label
Pick up the bottle and read the ingredient list in order, because by law the biggest ingredient comes first.
- First ingredient. If it is sugar, sucrose, or “sugar base”, you are holding a sweet tonic. A 5 ml spoon of a typical herbal syrup can carry as much sugar as a biscuit.
- Species. Look for a Latin name. “Shankhpushpi” alone tells you nothing; “Convolvulus pluricaulis” or “Evolvulus alsinoides” tells you which plant.
- Extract or whole herb. “Extract” without a ratio or a species is the vaguest possible description.
- The passengers. Most syrups add brahmi, ashwagandha, jatamansi or vacha. Each has its own cautions; brahmi can upset the stomach and ashwagandha is not for pregnancy or thyroid patients without advice.
- Preservatives and colour. Sodium benzoate and caramel colour are common; not dangerous, just not herbal.
- Registration. In Pakistan look for a DRAP enlistment number on the pack; in India an AYUSH licence number. No number, no purchase.
The label line that gives the game away
If sugar is the first ingredient and the herb appears only as “shankhpushpi extract” with no species, no part and no quantity, the bottle is a flavoured sugar syrup with a herbal name on it, not a herb dose. That is fine if you want a pleasant tonic; it is not fine if you are paying for a memory herb or giving it to a child instead of sleep. Loose dried herb with a Latin name on the bag is the only form where you know roughly what you are getting.
How it is traditionally taken
The classical form is the dried whole herb powdered and taken with milk, or a cold infusion, or a sharbat; Unani prescriptions pair sankhaholi with brahmi and sometimes with rose and gaozaban. As a medicinal herb its quantity is for the pack label or a qualified practitioner to set, not for this page. People usually judge a brain tonic over several weeks. Stop and ask if you notice dizziness, a racing or very slow heartbeat, stomach upset, unusual drowsiness, or any change in seizure control.
Shankhpushpi vs brahmi: not the same herb
They are often sold side by side and blended, and brahmi has its own identity problem (Bacopa monnieri in most of India, Centella asiatica in parts of the north and in Unani usage). Shankhpushpi is a dryland bindweed relative; brahmi, in either sense, is a creeping herb of wet ground, and by far the better studied of the two is Bacopa. Brahmi’s identity gets its own page on brahmi booti.
Who should be careful
Blood pressure: shankhpushpi has a mild blood-pressure-lowering effect in the available data, so people with low pressure, or on blood pressure tablets, should mention it to their doctor and watch for dizziness on standing. Epilepsy: it is traditionally used for fits, but there is a report that it can reduce the effectiveness of phenytoin. Anyone on anti-seizure medicine must not add it without the neurologist’s agreement, and must never reduce medicine because a tonic has started. Children: syrups are sugar; daily spoonfuls add up for teeth and weight, and no syrup replaces sleep, breakfast and revision. Under 1, no herbal syrups at all without the paediatrician. Pregnancy and breastfeeding: no safety data; skip it, and remember that the ashwagandha in many blends is its own pregnancy caution. Identity: you may be taking blue pea, Evolvulus or Convolvulus without knowing which; all three are considered low-risk herbs, but the evidence for each is thin and separate. Diabetes: the problem is the sugar in the syrup, not the herb; choose loose herb or a sugar-free form. See a doctor, not a syrup, for memory loss that is getting worse in an adult, confusion, a first fit, or a child who is struggling at school, which usually has a hearing, vision, sleep or attention explanation that a tonic will hide.
Bottom line
Real shankhpushpi, on paper, is Convolvulus prostratus, a flat hairy herb with small white or pink flowers; in the market it is usually Evolvulus, and in the south and in “blue tea” it is often blue pea, a different plant entirely. All of them are traditional calming and memory herbs with animal data and almost no proper human trials. The syrups are mostly sugar with a vague herbal extract. Buy loose herb with a Latin name if you want the herb, read the label if you want the syrup, and keep your blood pressure and seizure medicines out of the equation unless a doctor agrees. More identity explainers wait in Unani & Herbal, Decoded.
Shankhpushpi: the questions people ask
Real shankhpushpi plant kaunsa hai?
The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India names Convolvulus pluricaulis, now called Convolvulus prostratus, a flat hairy herb with small white or pale pink flowers. In practice most trade material is Evolvulus alsinoides, and blue pea (Clitoria ternatea) is also sold under the name in the south.
Shankhpushpi flower in English?
There is no single settled English name. The official plant is called prostrate bindweed; Evolvulus alsinoides is dwarf morning glory; the blue flower most photos show is butterfly pea or blue pea. The literal meaning of shankhpushpi is “conch flower”.
Kya shankhpushpi sach mein dimagh ke liye kaam karta hai?
Tradition says yes, and in rodents it has calming and memory effects, but human evidence is limited to two small open-label studies, one on a mixed product. Nobody has shown in a proper trial that it improves memory or marks. It is plausible and gentle, not proven.
Shankhpushpi syrup mein kya hota hai?
Typically sugar first, then a shankhpushpi extract (often without a species named), and usually other herbs such as brahmi, ashwagandha, jatamansi or vacha, plus a preservative and colour. Read the ingredient order on your bottle; the first item is the biggest.
Shankhpushpi ke nuksan kya hain?
It is considered low-risk. Reported concerns are a mild drop in blood pressure, possible interference with the seizure medicine phenytoin, and stomach upset or drowsiness in some people. The sugar in syrups is the most common real-world problem.
Shankhpushpi bachon ko de sakte hain?
Over the age of 1, with a paediatrician’s agreement, a low-sugar form is unlikely to harm, but it will not fix poor marks. Children who struggle to focus need hearing, vision, sleep and attention checked first. Under 1, no herbal syrups at all.
Shankhpushpi in Urdu kya kehte hain?
In Unani and Pakistani usage it is sankhaholi or shankhaholi. The Convolvulus plant also carries the Urdu folk names sireen and dodak. Most sankhaholi sold in Pakistan is Evolvulus alsinoides.
Shankhpushpi aur brahmi mein farq?
They are different plants. Shankhpushpi is a dryland bindweed relative (Convolvulus or Evolvulus); brahmi is a wet-ground creeper, Bacopa monnieri, or in some regions Centella asiatica. Bacopa has far more human research than shankhpushpi. The two are often blended in syrups.
Blue pea (aparajita) shankhpushpi hai?
Only regionally. Clitoria ternatea, the blue pea or aparajita, is used as shankhpushpi in parts of South India and Bengal, and it is the plant in colour-changing “blue tea”. It is a legume, unrelated to the pharmacopoeia’s Convolvulus. Different plant, different chemistry.
Shankhpushpi powder kaise lete hain?
Traditionally the dried whole-herb powder is taken with warm milk or as a cold infusion. How much is a question for the pack or a qualified practitioner, since it is a herb taken as medicine. Give it several weeks before judging, and stop if you feel dizzy or unusually drowsy.
Shankhpushpi ka paudha kahan milta hai?
It grows wild on sandy and rocky ground across Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and the Deccan, and in Sindh and Punjab in Pakistan. It is collected whole after the monsoon and dried. Cultivation is rare.
Shankhpushpi real hai ya fake, kaise pehchanen?
For loose herb, look for a Latin name and for small white-pink (Convolvulus) or tiny pale blue (Evolvulus) dried flowers among hairy stems. Big blue petals mean blue pea. For powders and syrups, nobody can tell by eye; DNA testing exists for exactly this reason.
Sources
- Sethiya NK, Nahata A, Mishra SH, Dixit VK. An update on Shankhpushpi, a cognition-boosting Ayurvedic medicine. Journal of Chinese Integrative Medicine, 2009
- Sharma S, Shrivastava N. Internal transcribed spacer guided multiplex PCR for species identification of Convolvulus prostratus and Evolvulus alsinoides. Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B, 2016
- Balkrishna A, Thakur P, Varshney A. Phytochemical profile, pharmacological attributes and medicinal properties of Convolvulus prostratus. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 2020
- Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, Cognitive Vitality: Shankhpushpi evidence summary
- Flowers of India: Convolvulus prostratus (prostrate bindweed, shankh pushpi), botanical description
- Flowers of India: Evolvulus alsinoides (dwarf morning glory, vishnukranti), botanical description