Indian Medicinal Plants/Natural Order Anacardiaceæ

by Kanhoba Ranchoddas Kirtikar and Baman Das Basu

N. 0. ANACARDIACEÆ.

320. Rhus parviflora, Roxb. h.f.b.l, ii. 9, Roxb, 274.

Habitat : — Western Himalaya, from Kumaon to Nepal. Central India on the Pachmarhi Hills.

Vern. : — Tung, rai túng, tumra (Ph. and H.) ; Tungá, tungla, dúinglá, tumra, rannel (N. W. P.); Samák (Kashmir).

A large shrub or small tree, unarmed, often gregarious. "Bark thin, rough, reddish-brown. Wood dark, reddish- brown, streaked, very hard, close-grained ; sapwood light brown. Annual rings marked by a line and rather more numerous pores. Pores small, scattered, sometimes in short radial strings. Medullary rays fine, numerous, the distance between them about equal to diameter" (Gamble). Branchlets, petioles, underside of leaves and inflorescence clothed with dense tomentum. Leaves trifoliate. Leaflets obovate, the lower portion entire, the upper irregular, crenale. Terminal leaflets 2-3in. long, narrowed into a short marginate petiole, the lateral sessile, smaller. Panicle large terminal, the lower branches from the axils of leaves, bracts linear, minute, pedicels shorter than the flower. Sepals ovate, two narrower than the others ; petals oblong, more than twice the length of the sepals. Disk five-lobed. Drupe glabrous, brown, shining, 1/6in. diam. (Brandis).

Part used : — The fruit.

Use : — Used in Hindu medicine, and, mixed with salt, is said to act like tamarind (Stewart.)

321. R. semialata, Murray, h.f.b.l, ii. 10.

Syn. : — R. bucki amela, Roxb. 273.

Habitat :— Temperate Himalaya, from Banahal to Sikkim, and the Khasi Mountains.

Vern. : — Tatri, arkhar, arkol (Pb.); Dakhmila, dáswila (N. W. P.); Bakkiawela (Nepal) ; Takhril (Lepcha).

A middle-sized, deciduous tree. Young parts covered with dark grey pubescence. Resinous canal in the bark filled with white milk which is sticky, but does not turn black. Branchlets, petioles, underside of leaves and inflorescence clothed with short, soft brownish grey pubescence (Brandis). Leaves not aromatic, imparipinnate, over a foot long, turning red before falling ; common petiole usually winged. Leaflets 4-6 pair, opposite, sessile 2-4 by l-2in., elliptic, acuminate, deeply crenate or dentate, glabrous above, soft tomentose beneath ; lateral nerves 10-15 pair, parallel ; base rounded, some- what oblique. Panicles terminal, 6-8in. long, conical, dense- flowered. Flowers 1/10in. diam., pale green. Sepals ovate; petals oblong, ciliate, much exceeding the sepals. Wood soft, white, with dark streaks. Fruit a drupe, tomentose, eaten by the hill people (Kanjilal).

Outer Himalya Ranges, Assam, Khasi Shan and Naga Hills. Jaunsar and Tehri-Garhwal, 3-7000ft. Dhârâgad and Tons Valleys. Simla, the glen, Mahasu.

Galls of various shapes on branches, used for ink (Collett). Flowers pale yellow green (Brandis).

Use : — The fruit is given in colic (Stewart.)

322. R. Wallichii, Hook f. h.f.b.l, ii. 11.

Vern. : — Kambal, godúmbal, arkhar (Pb.) ; Akoria, Kaunui, bhaliún (N. W. P.) ; Bhálaio, chosi (Nepal).

Habitat : — Temperate Himalaya, from Garwhal to Nepal.

A small or moderate-sized, deciduous tree, attaining 50ft. Bark smooth, grey; resin-canals in bark, filled with white milk which turns black and raises blisters in skin. Sap wood white, soft. Heart wood reddish brown, yellow when dry (Brandis). Branchlets, petioles, underside of leaflets and panicles densely clothed with yellowish brown tomentum. Leaves imparipinnate, approximate, near the ends of branches, not aromatic, petiole terete. Leaflets 3-5 pair, quite entire, coriaceous, elliptic or oblong acuminate, shortly petiolulate, base rounded, upper surface pubescent or glabrous ; 4-7in. long, 2-3in. broad. Secondary nerves 18-25 pair ; parallel. Panicles axillary, much shorter than the leaves ; branches short, stout. Flowers sub-sessile, 1/10in, diam., greenish white. Petals longer than sepals, with dark veins, concave ; sepals broadly ovate-obtuse. Filaments short, anthers large. Disk broad, cup-shaped obscurely lobed. Drupes densely crowded, ⅓in. diam., globose, puberulous, epicarp dry, crustaceous, bursting irregularly ; stone globose, very thick, bony, surrounded by vegetable wax.

Use : — The juice of the leaves is corrosive and blisters the skin (Stewart.)

323. R. insignis Book f. H. f.b.i., ii. 11.

Vern. :— Kagphulai (Nepal) ; Serh (Lepcha).

Habitat : — Sikkim, Himalaya and the Khasi Mountains.

A small, beautiful, deciduous tree ; attains 50ft. Bark thin grey. Wood grey, soft ; heart- wood yellowish brown. Medullary rays fine, numerous. Leaves 12-18in. ; petiole terete. Leaflets 6-9 by 3-4½in., coriaceous, quite entire, elliptic or oblong, abruptly acuminate, glabrous and shining above, rusty, softly tomentose beneath ; nerves very numerous, as in R. Wallichii ; panicles larger, more lax and nearly glabrous. Fruiting panicles axillary, stout, 10in. long, peduncled ; branches spreading. Drupes scattered on panicles, smaller than in R. Wallichii, globose, ⅓in. diam. ; epicarp thin, dry, bursting irregularly and enclosing a globose white mass of vegetable wax, containing a small crustaceous stone.

Use : — The juice is a powerful vesicant (Gamble).

324. R. succedanea, Linn. h. f.b.i., ii. 12,Roxb. 273.

Sans. : — Karkat sringi.

Vern : — Tatree, rikul(Pb). ; Kâkra-Singi, kakkarsing (H.) ; Kakra sringi (B.) ; Raniwalai (Nepal) ; Serhnyok (Lepcha) ; Dingkain (Khasia).

Habitat : — Temperate Himalaya, from the Jhelum east-ward. From Kashmir to Sikkim Bhutan, Khasia Mts. Tehri Garhwal, Lambatacl. Pajidhar above Nairtwar. Valleys near Simla (Collett). Found by me," says Brandis, " in the Rupen Valley, October 1874."

A middle-sized, deciduous tree with dark grey thin bark. Leaves imparipinnate, approximate near the ends of the branches. Leaflets 3-6 pair, opposite, 3-6 by l½-3in., ovate-Ian ceolate, long, acuminate, entire, thinly coriaceous, usually quite glabrous, lateral nerves 8-15 pair, alternating with shorter in- termediate ones ; base rounded acute or oblique, petiolules slender, 1/5-2/5in. long. Panicles axillary, with slender and drooping ramifications, much shorter than the leaves. Flowers pedicelled, scarcely 1/10in. diam., greenish yellow. Sepals ovate-obtuse. Petals much larger, oblong or obtuse. Disk 5-lobed. Drupes ¼in. diam., compressed, glabrous, rugose, yellow or light brown; epicarp thin, bursting irregularly. Mesocarp fibrous. Kernel compressed, hard, surrounded by a vegetable wax (Kanjilal), " mixed with the fibre," adds Brandis.

Use : — The juice of the leaves is said to blister the skin (Stewart). The fruit is considered officinal and is used in Kash- mir in the treatment of phthisis.

Chemistry.— The sap is a thick, nearly white, alkaline cream, superficially oxidisable by air to an intensely black, impervious susbtance, insoluble in the usual solvents.

Complete oxidation only takes place in the presence of a diastatic ferment, laccase, which can be separated from the other essential constituent of the sap by means of alcohol, in which it is insoluble. When precipitated by alcohol from aqueous solution, the crude laccase dries to white, opaque fragments, like gum, and is probably a mixture of the ferment with carbo-hydrates, as it can be oxidised to mucic acid, and hydrolysed to galactose and arabinose.

From the portion of the sap soluble in alcohol, a substance, laccol, probably a polyphenol, can be precipitated by lead acetate. It is a thick oil, insoluble in water, but soluble in alcohol, &c, and is intensely irritating to the skin, as is the crude sap. Laccol is readily oxidisable in the air to a reddish, viscous, or resinous substance ; in alkaline solution, it behaves like pyrogallol, blackening and absorbing oxygen with such rapidity as to become hot ; it reduces ferric chloride in alcoholic solution, forming a black, metallic derivative.

When laccol is precipitated from alcoholic solution by an aqueous solution of laccase, the white emulsion rapidly blackens from absorption of oxygen ; but this does not take place if the laccase solution has been boiled, or if water alone is the precipitant. The action of laccase on gallic acid &C, is similar, the rate of absorption of oxygen being enormously increased. As the ferment has no action on starch, sugar, amygdalin, &c, it seems to be the first member of a new class of " oxidising diastases."

Since laccase is present in many plants, it seems not improbable that this diastase plays an important part in the respiration of plants,

J.Ch.S. 1895 A l p. 386.

325. — Pistacia integerrima, Stewart, h.f.b.i., ii. 13.

Syn. : — R. Kakrasingee, Royle, III. 175.

Sans. : — Karkatasringi.

Vern. : — Kâkrasingi (H. and B.) ; Kaka, kakar, kangar, tuga (Pb.) ; Kákkatashingi (Tam.) ; Kakra, galls-kakra-singi (Hind.) kákráshingí (Mar.) (Guz,) ; Galls : — kakrasringi (Beng.) ; Kakhar, drek, gurgu (Kashmir) ; Kaugar, khaugar, kakar, kakkar, khakkar, kakkrei, kakra, kakkeran, kakraiu, kakkrangehe, kakla, drek, gurgu, tauhari, taugu, shne, sarawau, masna. Galls: — Kakra-singi Fruit: — Sumak (P. B.) ; Sarawau, shne, masna, (Pushto). Galls: — Kakka-tashingi ; (Tam.) ; Galls: — Kakarashingi (Tel.) Galls : — Dusptapu chattwa (Kan.).

Habitat. — Sulaiman and Salt Ranges, Punjab. Outer Western Himalaya, extending as far as Kumaon, Junsar and Tehri-Garbwal.

A middle-sized, deciduous tree. Bark grey, rough. Wood very hard, close and even-grained. Sapwood white. Heart- wood yellowish brown, beautifully mottled with yellow and dark veins. Young shoots red. Leaves aromatic, alternate, impari-or paripinnate, finely pubescent when young, 6-9in. long ; leaflets 4-6 pair, usually opposite or subopposite (Kanjilal) ; minutely petioluled, 3-6 by 1-1¾in., lanceolate from an oblique base, long, acuminate, entire, hard, coriaceous, glabrous; main-lateral nerves about 20 pair, slender. Inflorescence a lateral panicle. Flowers small, apetalous, dioecious. Male flowers : Panicles 2-4in. long, compact, pubescent. Calyx gamosepalous, 3-5ft. Stamens 5-7 on a black disk ; anthers large red. Female flowers : Panicles 6-10in. long, lax, thyrsoid. Sepals 4, free, linear, deciduous. Ovary sessile, 1-celled. Styles 3. Cohering near the base. Drupe ¼in. diam., oblique, broader than long, glabrous, rugose. Irregularly shaped galls, called Kakrâ singi, from the leaves, often 6-7in. long.

Part used : — The gall.

Uses : — By the Sanskrit writers the gall is considered as tonic, expectorant and useful in cough, phthisis, asthma, fever, want of appetite and irritability of the stomach. The usual dose is about 20 grains, combined with demulcents and aromatics.

Mahomedan writers describe them as hot, dry, and useful in chronic pulmonary affections, especially those of children ; also in dyspeptic vomiting and diarrhœa. They notice their use in fever and want of appetite, and say that they are good external applications in cases of psoriasis (Dymock).

The fruit of this tree is probably the sumak, sold in the Punjab bazars and used to strengthen the digestion (Brandis).

The galls powdered, fried with ghi and a little sugar added, may be given internally with good effect in dysentery (Surgeon-Major Thompsoo, C. I. E., in Watts's Dictionary.)

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326. — Mangifera indica, Linn, {sc

13, Roxb.}}

Sans. : — Amra ; Chuta (the juicy) ; Madhahdúta (messenger of spring).

Vern. : — Amb, âm (H.) ; Am (B.) ; Mânga maram, maa, mangas (Tam,) ; Âmbâ (Dec); Mâkaudamu, mavi (Tel.) ; Ambâ- nujhâda (Guz.) ; Mavina, mâvu, amba (Kan.); Marka (Gond.) ; Uli(Kol); Ul(SantaL).

Eng. : — The Mango.

Habitat : — Throughout tropical India.

A large, evergreen tree. Bark thick, dark grey, nearly black, rough, with numerous small fissures and exfoliating scales. Wood grey, in old trees, sometimes dark brown, with black streaks, and hard ; in younger trees coarse-grained, soft (Gamble). Branches widely spreading. Leaves dark green, coriaceous, oblong-lanceolate, blade 5-12in., petiole ¾-1½in. ; secondary nerves slightly arching, numerous, alternating with shorter intermediate nerves. Panicles larger, erect, pubescent. Flowers fragrant, nearly sessile, petals twice the length of Calyx-lobes. Anther one, oval, purple, steritle stamens minute, 2-4. Drupe 2-6in. long, yellow when ripe. There are many cultivated varieties all over India, Parts used : — The fruit, kernel, leaves, flower, bark and gum.

Use :— The smoke of the burning leaves is supposed to have a curative effect in some affections of the throat. According to the author of the Makhzan, the Hindus make a confection of the unripe fruit mixed with sugar, which, in times of plague or cholera, they take internally and rub all over the body ; it is also stated in the same work that the midribs of the leaves calcined are used to remove warts on the eyelids. Ainslie says that the gum-resin, mixed with lime-juice or oil, is used in scabies and cutaneous affections. The juice of the ripe fruits dried in the sun, so as to form thin cakes, Amras or Amwaat (Hind.), Ambapuri, Âmbipoli (Bom.), Amsatta (Beng.), is used as a relish and antiscorbutic (Dymock).

A resin obtained from the bark of the tree is considered anti-syphilitic (Murray).

Resinous juice mixed with the white of an egg and a little Opium, is considered a good specific on the Malabar Coast for diarrhœa and dysentery (Ainslie).

The unripe fruit is said to be useful in ophthalmia and eruptions, and the seeds in asthma.

The rind of the fruit is astringent and also a stimulant tonic in debility of the stomach.

The ripe fruit is considered laxative, and therefore much prized by persons labouring under habitual constipation. The bark and kernel are known as astringent and used in hæmorrhage, diarrhœa and other discharges. The decoction of the kernel, either alone or in combination with bel and ginger, is generally prescribed in diarrhœa. The juice of the kernel, if snuffed, can stop nasal bleeding. The kernel is also described in the Indian Pharmacopoeia as an anthelmintic and containing a large quantity of gallic acid, highly useful in bleeding piles and menorrhagia.

Mango bark and fruit have been lately introduced by Dr. Linguist as a medicine in Europe ; he recommends it for its extraordinary action in cases of hæmorrhage from the uterus, lungs or intestines (Dymoek). A native article of diet, known as amchúr or ambosi (Bom.), is made of green mangoes which have been skinned, their stones removed and the pulp cut up into pieces and dried in the sun, is recommended by the Inspector-General of Prisons, North- Western Provinces and Oudh, as a good and cheap antiscorbutic for native troops (Dr. Emerson).

The flowers of the mango are used either in the form of tea or powder for catarrh of the bladder. The powder is also used in the form of fumigation against mosquitoes (Brazilian Drugs, Ph. J., Oct. 25, 1884).

Introduced into America in the form of fluid extract, either from the fruit or the rind, Astringent with a specific tonic action on mucous membranes. Its effects are great in diphtheria and other malignant throat diseases. The fluid extract applied locally is very useful in hæmorrhages. (I. M. G. February 1883, p. 56).

The kernels of the seeds contain 47.5 per cent, of water, and 5.2 per cent, of fat, which melts at 36°C. ; acid value, 12.3 ; Saponification value, 175 ; iodine value, 54.5 ; Reichert-MeissI value, 0.2. The bulk of the fat consists of oleodistearin. By adding alcohol to the ether solution of the fat until turbidity occurs, this crystallises out in fine needles ; m. pt. about 44°C ; readily soluble in ether, sparingly so in alcohol.

[J. Ch. I. May 31, 1911, p. 634].

The gum contains 16.57 per cent, of moisture and 3.357 per cent, of ash, and the dry substance is soluble in water to the extent of 39.36 per cent., the solution having [a]_d— 25.33°. The gum contains an oxydase, yielding a red colour with guaiacol solution.

It contains 71.42 per cent, of sugars, including 25.33 of galactose, and 35.095 of pentoses (arabinose was also separated).

The portion insoluble in water contains moisture 10.51 ; and in the dry substance, galactose 32.08 ; pentoses 42.87 ; total galactoses, 86.28 per cent., having a_D+64.89°.

(P. Lemeland, J. Pharm. Chim. (1904) J. Ch. S. Vol. LXXXVI, pt. II., p. 583.

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327. — Anacardium occidentale, Linn., h.f.b.i., ii. 20, Roxb., 342.

Vern. : — Kajú (H.) ; Hijli-bádám (B.) ; Kottaimundi, Rolla mávu (Tam.) ; Kájúcha-bi, kájú (Mah.); gidi-mamedi, mundamamddichettu (Tel.) ; Jidi-váte, kempu gern bija, geru-poppu, geru-váte, gerabija godámby (Kan.) ; Paranki-mâva kuru, Parangi-mávu, kappal-cherunkuru, kappa-mávakuru (Mal.) The hon. Inayet (Burm)..

Eng. : — The Cashew Nut.

Habitat: — Hotter parts of India, especially near the sea. Naturalised from America.

An evergreen, 10-20ft. high. Bark considerably rough. In old trees it is deeply cracked. The juice from the stem is thickish and resinous, slightly brownish, blackening on exposure. From the bark comes a yellowish hard resin having mostly the appearance of yellow amber — the Cashew gum — soluble and used for nearly the same purpose as gum-arabic." Wood dark brown. Charcoal of the wood used by the iron- smiths of Tavoy as the best for their trade. Leaves simple, smooth, alternate, ex-stipulate, quite entire, ovate or obovate, with a slightly rounded emarginate apex, smooth on both sides, of a hard texture ; narrower, but obtuse at base ; 4-8in. by 3-5in. Venation well-marked, whitish and permanent on the under surface. Nerves 10 pair, often less, nearly horizontal, sometimes bifurcating faintly. The bark and leaves contain much tannin. Petiole ¼-½in., slightly grooved on ventral side ; at times cylindric. Panicles corymbose, branched and spreading. Bracts leafy, numerous, lanceolate, hairy. Bracteoles at base of pedicels, broadly ovate, generally lanceolate, acuminate. Flowers small pentamerous, polygamous, ¼in. diam ; yellow, with pink, longitudinal stripes, often deep-crimson ; odour of mixed cloves and cinnamon. Calyx inferior, cleft nearly to base. Sepals erect, deciduous ; the base of sepals a crescent, forming an erect disk. Corolla alternate, linear-lanceolate, twice as long as the sepals. Stamens usually 9, all fertile ; one of these is nearly twice as long as the rest. Stamens often vary alternately. Filaments connate at base, free upwards. Anthers 2-celled, introse. Pistil in the male flower minute, with a very short style ; both well-devloped in the hermaph- rodite flower. Ovary in the hermaphrodite flower free, campylotropous, superior, one-celled, ovoid or obcordate. BailIon describes it as compresso-obovate or obcordate, hence gibbous. This is a more accurate description, I think. Style simple, solitary, filiform, eccentric, becoming convolute, as if to bring the stigma into contact with the large anther of the long filament (Roxb). Stigma minute, often tinged crimson. Ovule solitary, long, conical ; inserted at the summit of a suberect, ascending panicle. Chalaza superior ; micropyle introse, inferior, near funicle. Fruit an ash-coloured nut, kidney-shaped, dry, shining, indchiscent. lin. long, ¼in. broad at hilum ; some- what compressed. Mesocarp soft, corky, lacunose, oleo-resinous. The epicarp and pericarp coriaceous, not woody, as Baillon says. The most noteworthy part of the plant is the succulent, fleshy, enlarged peduncle, soft and juicy, obovoid, slightly sweet, at times very acrid and irritating to the throat and tongue ; popularly sold as the Kaju fruit in the bazaar, and of which much liquor is manufactured in Goa. Seed kidney-shaped which is the real fruit, corresponding to the pericarp. Testa crisp, membranous, and easily removable, mottled reddish-brown outside, deep crimson inside, of an astringent aromatic taste, separable from the kernel or milkwhite cotyledons by a resinous fracture ; albumen absent.

Parts used : — The fruit, seeds and spirit.

Uses : — The bark is said to have alterative properties. The tar, which contains about 90 p. c. of anacardic acid and 10 p. c. of cardol, has recently been recommended as an external application in leprosy, ringworm, corns and obstinate ulcers ; it is powerfully rubefacient and vesicant, and requires to be used with caution. In Native practice, it is sometimes used as a counter-irritant. In Europe, a tincture of the pericarp (1 to 10 of rectified spirit) has been used in doses of 2 to 10 minims as a vermifuge. According to Basiner, the subcutaneous injection of small doses of cardol produces on cold-blooded animals paresis, increasing to paralysis of the extremities, stupor, paralysis of respiration and tetanic spasms. In warm-blooded animals large doses are not lethal, but stupor, paralysis of the extremities and diarrhœa occur, and, after death, congestion of the intestinal lining is found. Gardol seems to be excreted chiefly with the urine, but partially also with fæces. Applied on a small piece of lint to the skin of the breast, it raised a watery blister in 1A hours (Am. Journ. Pharm., 1882, Dymock).

Between the laminæ of the shell of the kernel there is a black caustic fluid, which contains an acrid, oily principle, cardol and a peculiar acid, anacardic acid.

The spirit distilled from the expressed juice of the fruit may be used as a stimulant (Watt.)

The kernel is nutritive, demulcent and emollient ; and the oil emollient. In the form of mixture, the kernel is useful for all the purposes for which the Mistura Amygdalae is employed, and also as a food in very weak patients suffering from incessant and chronic vomiting, with two or three minims of acid hydro-cyanic dil. in each dose. The oil is a mechanical as well as a chemical antidote for irritant poisons. It not only protects, to some extent, the lining membrane of the stomach and bowels from the irritation of the poison, and prevents both the solution and absorption of it, but also neutralizes it by forming a soap with it, if it happens to be an alkaline. It is also a good vehicle for liniments and other external applications (Mooden Sheriff).

The kernels yield a light, yellow, bland oil. Niederstadt (1902) found the saponification value to be 179.84, and the iodine value, 60.6.

The pericarp or shell yields a black, acrid and powerfully vesicating oil. Crossley and Le Sueur determined the following constants : Specific gravity, 0.9594 ; saponification value, 45.1 ; iodine value, 294.2 ; Reichert-Meissl value, 1.26. Though it possessed an abnormally high iodine value, practical experiments showed it to be a non-drying oil.

328. — Buchanania latifolia, Roxb., h.f.b.i., ii. 23, Roxb. 365.

Sans. : — Piyála ; Chára ; Chirika.

Vern. :— Piyáar, piyáal, piyâla, chironji (the kernel), (H.), Chironji, peal (the fruit), chirunji (the kernel), piyâl, pîal, pear (the tree), (B.) ; Chirauli, chirâoli (the fruit), chironji, (Pb.) ; Piâl, payâla, muriâ, katbhilawa, (Garhwal) ; Piâr, peira, paira, paila, pairwa, perrah, (Oudh) ; Tarum, (Kol) ; Pial, (Bhumij) ; Peea, (Kharwar) ; Tarop, (Santal) ; Charu, char, chara, charo, (Uriya) ; Achâr, châr, char-ka-jhar, chironji (the fruit), char-ka- gond (the gum), (C.P.) ; Sârâka, surraka, herka, char-ka-gadh (the gum), (Gond) ; Taro, tarope, (Kurku) ; Sir, (Bhil) ; Châr-ki- châroli (the kernel), (Duk) ; Piyal, châroli, châr, biji, (Bomb.) ; Charwari, (Hyderabad); Char, chironji (the fruit), (Behar) ; Mowda or katimango, marum, kat maâ, aima, kâtma-maram (the plant), kâtma-payam or katma param (the fruit), katma- parpu (the kernel), (Tam.) ; Chara, sara, charu madudi, chiuna mora, morli morlu-banka, morlu-chettu, châra-chettu, châru- chettu, or sârachettu. châra-mâmidi, jârumâmidi (the plant), châra- pandu (the fruit), châra-puppu, charu-puppu (the kernel), (Tel); Nuskul, murkalu, murukalu, (Kan.) ; Kâla maram, (Mala); Châroli, (Guj., Cutch) ; Pyâl-char, (Mar.); Lonepho, lunbo, lamboben, lombo or lonpo, loneopomâa, (Burm.)

Habitat: — A tree leafless only for a very short time. Found in the Sub-Himalayan tract from the Sutlej eastward, ascending to 2,000 feet ; throughout India and Burma, common in the hotter and drier parts of the empire, and frequently associated with the sâl, the mahûa, and the dâk.

A middle-sized tree, leafless only for a short time, attaining 50ft. Bark 1 in. thick, dark grey, sometimes nearly black, rough, tessallated, with regular " boss "-like prominence. Wood greyish brown, moderately hard, with a small, dark- coloured heart-wood (Gamble). Leaves 6-10in., very coriaceous or hard, nerves prominent, 15-20 pair, stout or nearly straight, usually broadly oblong, rounded at the tip, closely reticulate, softly hairy beneath. Petiole ¼-⅓ in., stout, pubescent. Panicles terminal and axillary, tomentose, shorter than the leaves ; pyramidal branches stout, bracts small, caducous. Flowers crowded, sessile, greenish white, ¼in. diam. Calyx 5-toothed, petals oblong. Disk fleshy. Stamens 10, spreading as long as the petals. Drupe black, ½in., subglobose, slightly compressed, edible. Stones hard, bony, 2-valved. Seed oily, edible, pleasant to taste when fresh, soon gets rancid on keeping.

Parts used : — The fruit, seed, gum, roots, leaves.

Uses : — By Hindu writers the fruit is said to be sweet and laxative ; used to relieve thirst, burning of the body and fever. (Dutt).

The seed is very palatable and nutritious when roasted ; used in medicine and considered heating (Irvine, Med. Top., Ajmere).

It yields a gum said to be administered in diarhœa. The oil extracted from the kernels of the fruit is used as a substitute for almond oil in Native medicinal preparations and confectionery. It is also applied to glandular swellings of the neck (Watt).

In the Jhansi District, the kernel worked up into an ointment, is used in skin diseases.

In the Central Provinces, the roots and leaves, pounded and mixed with butter-milk, are taken in cases of diarrhœa. The fruit is used by Hakims in tonic medicines and for applying to the tongue when inflamed or very hard.

It is believed to cure pimples, prickly heat and itch. In Berar, kernels pounded and applied outwardly are used as a remedy for itch ; also employed by women to remove spots and blemishes from the face. (The Agricultural Ledger, 1900, No. 9.)

In the Bombay Presidency, the kernel is employed as a tonic, being sometimes substituted for the almond.

In the Madras Presidency, the gum with goat's milk is given internally for intercostal pains.

It is used to flavour preserved preparations of milk, such as Barfi, Basundi, Pêdhê, Halvâ of the white gourd ; preserved cocoanut sweets, such as Khobripâk, in Bombay, Surat, Ahmedabad, Poona.

The kernels are brown and mottled with darker brown, and laterally compressed like vetch seeds. They yield 58.6 per cent, of oil (Church), which commences to congeal into a white semisolid mass at 18.5°.

Crossley and Le Sueur obtained the following constants : Specific gravity at 100°, 0.8942; melting point, 32°; acid value, 15.4; saponification value, 193.6; iodine value, 57.3; Reichert-Meissl value, 0.33; refractive index, 1.4584 ; insoluble acids and unsaponifiable, 95.8 per cent.

329. — Melanorrhœa usitata, Wall, h.f.b.l, ii. 25,

Eng. :— The Varnish Tree. Vern. :— Khen (Manipur) ; Soothan (Tel.); Thitsi (Burmese).

Habitat : — Manipur.

A large, deciduous tree. Bark dark grey. Wood dark red, with yellowish streaks turning very dark after long exposure ; very hard. Branchlets very stout, velvety. Petioles, underside of leaves, and panicles softly tomentose. Leaves obovate or oblanceolate ; 6-14 by 4-6in., base cuneate ; nerves 28-30 pair, stout, straight. Petiole flattened, winged, ½-1in. Panicles 1ft. long, peduncled. Flowers white, lax, ½in. diam. ; pedicels slender ; petals pubescent. Stamens many, 20-30. Calyx calyptriform, beaked, pubescent. Petals 5-6, eventually 2-4in. long, linear-oblong, obtuse, coriaceous, reticulated, gland-dotted, pubescent. Drupe red, glaucous ; ⅓-½in. diam., stalk thick, ⅓in. long, supported by the oblong, stellately-spreading, enlarged petals, 2-4in. long. Pedicel ½in. The tree yields the black Burmese lacquer or varnish from incisions made into the bark, while the tree is in leaf (Brandis).

Use : — The thick, greyish fluid, which is found in every 7 part of the plant, has been used in medicine as an anthelmintic with great success. If the juice be too much handled, it causes erysipelas-like swellings in certain constitutions, which are cured by the application of an infusion of teak wood.

Separation of Constituents.

Pure Thitsi extracted with hot alcohol.

[

I !

Residue shaken with dry ether Alcoholic extract contains Urushic acid

nd filtered. (about 85 per cent.)

Residue boiled with water. Filtrate, distilled, dried and again

I extracted with hot alcohol.

I I

Residue oily or fatty matter Extract contains last traces of

(smalt quantity). Urushic acid.

I I

Final residue is Diastatic matter Aqueous extract contains Gum.

(about 2 per cent). (Total (Gives the ordinary reactions

nitrogen in this diastase = 4*7 of gum arabic. Amount about

per cent.) 3 per cent.) The present investigation has proved with the aid of the method outlined above that the most important and main constituent of the Burmese natural v rnish is urushic acid, which amounts to about 85 per cent, in the pure unadulterated specimens. (Mr. Puran Singh's paper in the Indian Forest Records, Vol. I. part IV.)

330. — Odina wodier, Roxb., h.f.b.l, ii. 29, Roxb. 336.

Sans : — Jingini.

Vern. : — Jingan, kashmala, kaimul, mowen H.) ; Jival, bohar, ghadi (B.) ; Odiya-maram, wodier, Odi, (Tam.) ; Odaimanu (Tel.) ; Shimti ; Múi [Bomb, and Sind] ; Mooi, indrámai [Uriya].

(Porebunder) Mavedo ; (Guj.) Mavédi ; (Maráthi) Shimti, Mewâ, Moyiní ; (Hind.) Jingan, Máyini ;

Habitat : — Throughout the hotter parts of India. Ceylon. Burma, Andaman Isles.

A moderate-sized or large, deciduous tree. Bark ½in. thick, compact, grey, smooth, exfoliating in small irregular plates. The stem affords gum. Wood moderately bard, close-grained. Sapwood large white ; heart-wood scanty, light red when fresh cut, turning reddish brown on exposure. Leaves imparipinnate. Rachis 6-10in., cylindric, glabrous, swollen at base. Leaflets 3-4 pair, opposite ; 2-6 pair, says Trimen, and a terminal one, shortly stalked or nearly sessile, 3-5in., lanceolate, acute or rounded, often unequal at base, more or less caudate-acuminate, entire or faintly crenate, glabrous, shining and deeply tinged with pink when young. Pinkish yellow. Flowers small, nearly sessile, pinkish yellow, appearing when the tree is bare of leaves. Inflorescence : the flowers are in small clusters, laxly arranged on elongated, slightly branched, stellate, pubescent, axillary panicles, appearing with the young leaves on the new shoots. Calyx minute, hairy. Petals oblong-oval, obtuse, reflexed in female flowers. Ovary oblong, large, glabrous. Styles very stout, divaricate. Drupe about ½in., reniform, ovoid, obtuse, compressed, smooth. Stone reniform, very hard.

Parts used : — The bark, gum and leaves. The bark yields a gum. Use : — The bark, powdered and mixed with Margosa oil, is considered by the Vytians a valuable application to old and obstinate ulcers. [Ainslie]. The gum beaten up with cocoanut milk, is applied to sprains and bruises, and the leaves boiled in oil are used for a similar purpose [Wight].

In the Indian Pharmacopœia the astringent properties of the bark are noticed, and its use as a lotion in impetiginous eruptions and obstinate ulcerations. The late Dr. Bholanath Bose recommended a decoction of the bark as an astringent gargle. Powdered bark used for leprous ulcers as a paste in Ratnagiri.

The juice of the green branches, in a four-ounce dose mixed with two ounces of tamarind, is given as an emetic in cases of coma or in insensibility produced by opium or other narcotics [Taylor's Topography of Dacca.]

A decoction of the bark is useful internally in some cases of atonic dyspepsia and general debility, particularly if it is combined with tincture of gentian, calumba, &c. [Moodeen Sheriff].

In Burma, a decoction of the bark is used for tooth-ache.

In some parts of the Madras Presidency and Burma, the leaves are used for all local swellings and pains of the body. They are first boiled and then applied.

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{{c|331. — Semecarpus anacardium, Linn. f. h.f.b.l, ii. 30, Roxb. 268.]]

Sans. : — Bhallátaka, Arushkara.

Arab. :— Habbul-fahm.

Pers. : — Biládur.

Vern. :— Bhelá, bhilaúra (H.) ; Bhela, bhelatuki (B.) ; Bhallia (Uriya) ; Konghi (Lepcha) ; Bhilavan (Dec.) ; Shenkottai, sherán- kottai (Tam.) ; Jidi-Vittulu (Tel.) ; Cherun kuru (Mal.) ; Girú (Kan.) ; Bibba (Bomb.) ; Bhiámu, (Guz.)

Eng. :— The Marking-Nut Tree. Habitat : — Tropical outer Himalaya, from Sirmoor to Sikkim, and throughout the hotter parts of India, as far east as Assam (absent in the Eastern Peninsula).

A handsome tree, 20-40ft. high ; deciduous, girth 4-6ft. Bark 1in thick, dusky grey ; wounds on bark yield a brownish soft gum which dissolves slowly in the mouth. Wood ash-coloured, reddish white or brown ; even, but open-grained ; full of acrid juice, causing irritation and swelling. Leaves generally closely arranged at the extremities of the branchlets of numerous spreading branches ; simple, alternate, very coriaceous, flat ; 9-30in. by 5-12in., cuneate, oblong or obovate-oblong, rarely linear-oblong. Apex rounded, margins entire, cartilaginous. Base rounded, cordate or cuneate ; surface opaque above, slightly pubescent, especially when young, whitish or glaucous and thickly pubescent beneath. Nerves 16-25 pair, stout, slightly arched, pale whitly. Venation marked coarse on the under surface. Petiole l-2in., densely puberulous ; small, ¼-⅓in. diam., subsessile, fascicled in erect tomentose compound terminal panicles. Bracts and bracteoles fugacious Estivation imbricate. Female and Hermaphrodite flowers 1½-¼in. long, longer than the almost sessile male flowers. Calyx 5-fid. ; segments deciduous. Corolla greenish white or greenish yellow; petals 5, 3 or 4 times the length of Calyx, oblong, pointed at the apex, inserted under the margin of the disk, sessile, glabrous, very spreading. Disk annular, broad, between stamens and ovary. Stamens 5, alternate, inserted on the margins of the disk ; imperfect or sterile in female flowers, equal, distinct ; filaments subulate from a somewhat dilated base, of the length of petals. Anthers ovoid or elliptical, yellow. Ovary free, sessile, one-celled, densely appressed, tawny, hispid. Styles 3, divergent, incrassate. Stigma subclavate, shortly 2-lobed or retused . Ovules inserted at apex of the cell. Pendulous from a basal funicle. Male flowers often on a separate tree. Calyx and Corolla as in the hermaphrodite flower, but smaller. Filaments 5, of the length of petals. Anthers much larger than the hermaphrodites. Pistil absent or abortive. Fruit, a drupe, lin. long, and about as broad or ¾in., ovoid, obliquely ovoid or cordate-ovate, with a slight obtuse notch on either side under the apex ; unequally compressed ; slightly convex in some parts, and quite plain in others ; cup fleshy, orange-red, smooth, succulent, sweet, edible when ripe, formed of the thickened disk and accrescent Calyx-base. Pericarp smooth, shining, black, thick ; containing between the outer and inner laminæ roundish or oblong cells, full of corrosive resinous juice. This juice is white when the fruit is young, darkening on exposure to air. In the mature fruit, it is brownish or perfectly black ; inner lamina hard, rugose, outer smooth, leathery, less hard. Seed pendulous, with a swollen or umbillicate funicle (Lubbock).

Testa coriaceous, inner coat somewhat fleshy. Embryo thick, milk-white. Plumule ovate-leaved, veined, conduplicate, very thin. Cotyledons fleshy, thick, white, irregularly plano- convex. Albumen absent. Radicle superior, minute, connate with the apex of the cotyledons, always directed to the hilum.

Parts used: — The fruit.

Use : — In Hindoo medicine the ripe fruits are regarded as acrid, heating, stimulant, digestive, nervine and escharotic, and are used in dyspepsia, piles, skin diseases, nervous debility, &c. (Dutt).

Mahomedan writers consider the juice of the pericarp to be hot and dry, useful in all kinds of skin diseases, palsy, epilepsy and other affections of the nervous system. Externally, it is applied to cold swellings, such as piles (Dymock).

The Hakeems administer it for weakness of memory, epilepsy, etc. They consider it to be injurious to the liver, inflames the blood, and can produce melancholia, insanity, frenzy, etc. (Honnigberger.)

The Telingee physicians use it as a specific in all kinds of venereal affections (Roxburgh). A brown gum exudes from the bark which the Hindus regard as a valuable medicine in scrofulous, venereal and leprous affections (Ainslie). An oil from the nut acts as a vesicant in rheumatism and sprains (Ainslie). In Goa, the nut is used internally in asthma after having been steeped in butter-milk, and is also given as vermifuge. In the Concan, a single fruit is heated in the flame of a lamp and the oil allowed to drop into a quarter-seer of milk ; this draught is given daily in cough, caused by relaxation of the uvula and palate. The juice of the root-bark is also used medicinally on account of its acrid properties (Dymock). The bruised nut is applied to the os uteri by the native women to procure abortion (Ph. Ind). Basiner found that within 12 hours the brown oil of the nut raised a black blister ; this should be carefully protected from touch, as the fluid causes eczematous vesicles on any part of the body it may come in contact with. He has also noticed painful micturition, the urine being reddish brown and bloody, and painful stools, as a sequel to the external application of the oil (Am. J. of Pharm., 1882, Dymock).

" I have used the black, thick and acrid oil of the marking-nut, prepared either by expression or with the aid of heat, or the nut itself in the form of electuary, pretty extensively in my practice, and found it so efficacious in acute rheumatism that it may be considered a specific in that disease. The drug is also of great service in asthma, and more or less beneficial in secondary syphilis, hæmorrhoids, neuralgia, epilepsy, anæsthesia, paralysis, lepra, psoriasis and a few other cutaneous affections. Externally, the oil is a very cheap and pretty useful counter-irritant, but requires great care and caution in its employment. It should not be applied much or continuously to any part, but always in the form of parallel lines by means of a long needle or wire. In very severe cases, these lines may be crossed with other parallel lines in an opposite direction. In either case, when the blister is risen, it should be pricked and the serum allowed to dribble away ; and then the use of poultices for two or three clays renders the part very clean and fit to be dressed with simple dressing, carron oil or plantain leaves. The nut is more useful in haemorrhoids in the form of fumigation than the internal administration of its oil or electuary ; but unfortunately its smoke is attended with bad effects in some constitutions. Out of the two severe and painful cases of piles I treated with fumigation, one suffered from a swelling on the face, chest and abdomen with an erysipelatous blush ; while the other was quite free from all these symptoms. Both, however, were much benefited by the remedy in one siting Although T have not seen any case of bad effects from internal use of the marking-nut, yet there is no doubt that it is an irritant poison in a large quantity or overdose " (Moodeen Sheriff).

" Marking-nut is one of the few drugs which T have found more or less useful in all the diseases for which it is recommended in Native and other medical works. These works, however, speak of the usefulness of the drug in rheumatism in a very casual manner and only as a local application ; but, according to my own experience, it is, as an internal remedy, so useful in the acute form of that disease that it deserves a special attention. Used in full and repeated medicinal doses, the relief it affords is very great and satisfactory, and I do not hesitate in calling it a sovereign remedy in acute rheumatism. It is certainly more sure and speedy in its action than salicylic acid, salicylate of soda, colchicum, &c, and therefore the best drug for the above complaint. The more recent and acute the disease is, the more speedy and successful this medicine proves. Many of the patients suffering from acute rheumatism who were brought to me in doolies or other vehicles, and who were quite unable to sit or move without assistance, were able from the use of the electuary or the acrid oil of this drug to return to me walking on the 6th or 7th day after their first visit. On a few occasions, again, I was pleasantly surprised to see them walking lamely and coming to me on the very next or 3rd morning to say they were much better. In the latter case the patients were all youths or very young men.

" With regard to the preparations of the marking-nut I have described (electuary and acrid oil), there is no difference between the therapeutic uses of them, particularly in the treatment of acute rheumatism; but the patients generally prefer the former on account of its very pleasant taste. The number of the doses of these preparations I have generally used in the 24 hours is 4, and the dose of both is the same, viz., from one and a half drachm to two drachms and a half. In some very severe cases, when the patients were very strong and robust, the dose was increased to three drachms ; but the average dose is two drachms, which is the one I have most frequently employed in my practice. As soon as the patients are much relieved and able to walk about to some extent without assistance, I generally omit the drug and complete the cure with milder or less active medicines, such as salicylate of soda, colchicum, alkalines, and with stimulant embrocations.

" In chronic and muscular forms of rheumatism, however, the marking-nut is not half as useful as it is in its acute variety, and I am therefore unable to speak much in its favour in the treatment of the former diseases.

" Marking-nut is also a good therapeutic agent in asthma, but the relief it affords in so small doses as those mentioned in some books, is very slight. To secure its best effects in this disease it should be used repeatedly and in doses similar to those I generally employ in acute rheumatism. Gout is so rare among the Natives of this country that I never had an opportunity of using this drug in any well-marked case of that disease during the last two years ; but from its great influence over acute rheumatism ; I am almost sure that it will also produce good results in the acute form of the former.

" There is a notion among the Natives of Southern India that the internal use of the marking-nut is apt to produce sore mouth or ptyalism, but I have never met with a single instance of of these bad effects, though I have administered the drug in many cases and in so large and repeated doses as those explained above.

" During the employment of the marking-nut, either externally or internally, the least appearance of a rash or redness of the the skin, or an itchy or uneasy sensation in any part of the body, should be considered as a sign of the bad effects of the drug, and it should, therefore, be stopped immediately. Spiritus ammonite aromaticus is to be freely administered, with some demulcent drinks, such as infusum lini ; and some oil, olive or cocoanut, should be constantly smeared over the affected part or parts. This is generally sufficient to check the above symptoms ; but if they get worse and become more developed, they must be treated with some other and stronger remedies according to their nature" (Moodeen Sharif!).

In the Indian Medical Gazette for March 1902, Dr. Hem Chandra Sen, Teacher of Materia Medica, Campbell Medical School, Calcutta, published an interesting paper on the Therapeutics of Semicarpus anacardium. According to him : —

"The oil has very powerful antiseptic properties, but is too strong an irritant to be used medicinally for any such purpose.

• * e *

"The oil mitigated with butter or ghee (a dram of the oil 'to four ounces of ghee) is used in scaly skin eruptions, e. g., psoriasis, etc. The affected part becomes softened with marked rapidity and a normal condition returns. The strength may be varied according to indications.

" This application also does good in leucoderma. Sometimes the fruits are fried in mustard oil, and the oil is used for this purpose. The leucodermic spots show foci of fresh deposition of pigments ; and, after a prolonged use, distinct change of color is generally noticed.

• * * *

" The oil is irritant to the whole of the digestive tract, in big doses. In medicinal doses, it increases appetite and powerfully increases the secretions.

• * * *

"Partly by its own direct stimulating action, and partly by its powerful cholagogue action, it often acts as a purgative also.

• * * *

" The kernel of this and of S. Occidentale has no irritant properties at all. It tastes like almonds, and is a good nutritive food. In fact, it is used in the preparation of sweetmeats in some districts of India.

• * * *

" As a general alterative, it is often used to increase appetite, * * The power of digesting fats is said to be enormously increased. It is also a powerful carminative. " In chronic enlargement of spleen, it can be used with advantage when there is no hepatic complication of any marked degree and fever.

" S. anacardium is a good cardiac tonic. Under its influence many neurotic cardiac troubles are noticed to subside in a short time. The rate of the heart beat is usually increased.

" The drug is a general respiratory stimulant. It has been tried by me with success in several cases of pneumonia in the Campbell Hospital, as well as in private practice. The condition generally improves within three or four days — an ounce of the decoction (strength two drams of the bruised fruits to the ounce), — once or sometimes twice a day having been used.

"If a fruit is heated in the flame of a lamp and a drop of the oil allowed to drop in a pint and a half of milk, the milk can be used successfully in relaxation of the uvula and cough, especially in children. * • The potency of the drug in asthma is very remarkable. The drug not only relieves the spasmodic attacks, but also tends to cure the disease by prolonged use. A course of treatment with the drug for a month or so, in winter, is highly beneficial for asthmatics.

• * * *

" S. anacardium has a very pronounced action in subduing all forms of neuritis. In peripheral neuritis, including beriberi, I have used the decoction with milk and ghee in gradually increasing doses, with very satisfactory results.

• * * * *

" In Sciatica, the drug often acts like a charm. The patients feel relieved usually within 48 hours. A chronic case of Sciatica * • recovered completely in a month, with the administration of the decoction in increasing doses.

• •:•:- * *

" The use of the drug in paralysis is especially noteworthy. I have found the drug efficacious in both the spasmodic and flaccid varieties of the disease. Several cases of paraplegia, spastic and simple, and many others of hemiplegia with secondary rigidity, have been successfully treated with the decoction. * * " It is also one of the most powerful emmenagogues, and produces good effects in dysmenorrhoea. In inflammations around the uterus (pelvic cellulitis and peritonitis) it has been used with much benefit.

" S. anacardium is a powerful diaphoretic. It is very useful in scaly skin diseases.

• * * *

" It is believed by the Indians that if the drug be taken internally in small, but gradually increasing, doses in the winter, it makes one free from coughs and colds and senile degenerations.

• * * *

" Winter is the best season for the use of S. anacardium. It being a very heating remedy, its dose cannot be pushed to any length in summer.

• * * *

" I have been using this drug for more than six years, without seeing any bad effect other than erythematous rash. In the Campbell Hospital I have made many bed-ridden cases of disseminated sclerosis walk about in the hospital compound. As an alterative, it is very useful in secondary and tertiary stages of syphilis.

" I have used it successfully in two cases of epidemic dropsy of the legs recently."

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332. Holigarna Arnottiana, Hook f. h.f.b.l., ii. 36.

Vern. : — Bibu ; hulgeri (Bom.) ; Holgeri (M.) ; Kagira, Kutugeri (Kan.)

Habitat :— Western Peninsula, from the Concan southward on the Ghats.

Leafy handsome trees with stout-branches, Leaves 6-9 by 2-3in., coriaceous shining above reticulated or glaucous not beneath ; cuneate-obovate decurrent. Nerves 10-20 pair, strong nearly straight ; petrole ¼-1in., rather slender. Panicle of compound racemes, axillary and terminal, shorter or longer than the leaves. Flowers crowded minute ; males 1/6in. diam., enveloped in tomentum. Drupe 1in., oblique oblong, rounded at the top, quite glabrous, long pedicelled.

Use : — The fruit and bark are employed medicinally (Beddome ; Lisboa).

333. H. longifolia, Roxb. h.f.b.i., ii. 37, Roxb. 267.

Vern. : — Barola (B.) ; Sudra bibo (Mar.) ; Holeger (Kan.) ; Khreik (Magh.).

Habitat: — Chittagong.

A large, evergreen tree, with black acrid, resinous juice, young shoots rusty-tornentose, branches stout. Wood light grey, soft, light. Leaves quite glabrous, reticulated beneath, shining above, coriaceous, cuneate, obtuse or acute, 6-9 by 2-3in.; narrowed into petiole, ¼-1in. long, secondary nerves 10-20 pair. Petiolar spurs early deciduous. Panicles of compound racemes, axillary and terminal, shorter or longer than the leaves. Flowers ^-in. long, rusty tomentose within and without, crowded ; anthers red. Drupe glabrous, lin., obliquely oblong, rounded at the top.

Use : — Morton states that the fruit and bark are employed medicinally, but require to be prescribed with caution, as they are apt to give rise to dangerous symptoms. The tree exudes a black, resinous, acrid, and poisonous juice from the trunk and rind of the fruit. The secretion is of a powerfully caustic nature and blisters the skin. The blistering principle is due to Anacardic Acid.

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334. Spondias mangifera, Willd, h.f.b.i., ii. 42, Roxb. 387.

Sans.- Amrâtaka.

Pers. — Darakhte-moryam.

Vern. — Amra, amara, ambodha (H.) ; Amra (B.; ; Tangrong (Garo.) ; Kâtmâa (Tam.); Aravi mamadi (Tel.); Jangli am, ambâda (Bomb.) ; Amra, amara, ambodha, ambra (Hind.) ; Amra, ambra (Beng.) ; Amburri (Kol.) ; Amara (Assam) ; Tongrong ; adiaî (Garo.) ; Amara (Nepal) ; Kouchiling (Lepcha) ; Kat, Amboham (Mal. S. P.) ; Ambuda (Uriya) ; Ambera (Kurku) ; Hamara (Coond) ; Amra, amurs, bohamle, amara, amabara (Kumaon), (Bahamo) ; Ambara (P. B.) ; Ran-amb, jungli am (Deccan) ; Ambada, jangli-am, ambada, amra amarah, (Bomb.) ; Ro amba, ambada (Mar.) ; Kat-maa, rhanamb, mariman, chedi, katmora, Ampullai (Tam.) ; Puîîlle, kaders ambala chettupita, briksh, amnivuru, mamidi, amatum, adivio-mamadie toura mamidi (Tel.) ; Amte, ambatte mara, amate, pundi (Kan). Corre, kyorœ (Burm) ; Æmbcrælla (Sing,); Darakhte-moryam (Pers.).

Habitat. — Throughout India, from the Indus eastwards and southwards to Molacca and Ceylon.

A large, glabrous, deciduous tree. Bark smooth, aromatic grey, with short shallow, longitudinal wrinkles. Wood soft, light grey. Leaves 1-1½ft. ; petiole slender. Leaflets 3-5 pair, quite entire, elliptic-oblong, acuminate 2-9 by 1-4 in., shortly petiolulate, shining, more or less oblique ; secondary nerves nearly straight, 10-20 pair, joined at the ends by a prominent nerve, running along and close to the edge of the leaf-blade. Flowers pentamerous, white, nearly sessile, clustered on stout ramifications of a sparingly-branched, terminal panicle, polygamous, nearly sessile. Calyx 5-toothed, deciduous. Petals 5, about 1/10 in. long, oblong, greenish white, spreading. Disk cupular, crenate. Stamens 10, inserted below the disk ; filaments subulate, shorter than the petals ; anthers versatile. Ovary sessile, free. Carpels 4-5 distinct in flower, coalescing into a single stone in the carpels. Drupe l½-2 in. long, ovoid or oblong, fleshy, smooth, acid and rose- scented, yellow when ripe. Putamen fibrous and filled with cavities outside. Seeds 2-5, of which only one is perfect.

Parts used. — The fruit, bark, leaves and gum.

Use. — The pulp of the fruit is acid and astringent, and is considered useful in bilious dyspepsia (Dymock). The bark is sometimes used as a refrigerant medicine (T. N. Mukerji). It is also useful in dysentery ; and the juice of the leaves is used for ear-ache (Atkinson). The fruit is a useful antiscorbutic. The gum, in the form of mucilage, is a useful adjunct to other medicines for the purpose of suspending heavy powders, etc. The pulp, when boiled, has a faint rosy smell.

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