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Curculigo orchioides
Curculigo orchioides Gaertn., Hypoxidaceae (formerly in Amaryllidaceae), is a species with an interesting disjunct distribution, occurring in the sub-tropical Himalaya from Kumoan eastwards and in the Western Ghats from Konkan southwards.
The underground parts are prescribed in piles, jaundice, asthma, diarrhoea, gonorrhoea, and are considered a demulcent, tonic and aphrodisiac. It is also used as a poultice in skin diseases.
The hindi name of this species is kali musli (black musli). In recent times, a different species with the hindi name safed musli (white musli) gained popularity as an aphrodisiac and is even claimed to be the Indian answer to the western viagra. Kali musli also has a reputation for being an aphrodisiac. The safed musli is Chlorophytum arundinaceum Baker, from the family Liliaceae. In both the cases, it is the underground parts that are used and once they are dried it is difficult to distinguish them. For this reason, the kali musli is passed off as safed musli. The veracity of the attributed aphrodisiac action and the question of which species is superior are lost in the craze for an aphrodisiac. Large scale commercial growing of safed musli is now on in many parts of India.