Page:Indian Medicinal Plants (Text Part 1).djvu/124

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INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS.

N. O. ANONACEÆ.

33. Uvaria narum, Wall. h.f.br.i., i. 50.

Vern.:—Narum-panel (Malay). Rheede.

Habitat:—Forests of the Western Peninsula; and in the Central Provinces of India; Ceylon ascending to 4000 ft.—Widely diffused in Southern India.

A woody climber; twigs glabrous. Leaves 4—6 in., oblong, acuminate, very shortly stalked, glabrous. Flowers solitary, 1-1½ in. diam. Buds globose, stellate-tomentose. Sepals distinct, or nearly so, rounded, apiculate. Petals connate at base, broadly ovate, acute, incurved, densely pubescent. Ripe carpels very numerous, pendulous on slender stalks, 1 in. long, oblong—ovoid, 1-1½ in., smooth, bright scarlet-crimson. Colour of flowers yellowish—green.

Part used:—The root.

Uses:—The oil obtained from the roots by distillation, as well as the root, are used medicinally in various diseases. The root is fragrant and aromatic, and the bruised leaves smell like cinnamon. (Rheede).


34. Anona squamosa, Linn. h.f.br.i., i. 78, Roxb. 453.

Vern.:—Atá, kátál (Ass.); Maudar gom (Santal); Sirpha (Mal).; Sita-palam or Sita-pázham (Tam.); Sitapandn (Tel.); Sharifah, át or áta, Sitáphal, (H. Deck. Guj. Mar.); Atá, lemá (B.).

Habitat:—Introduced from the West Indies, and naturalized throughout India.

A small tree wholly glabrous. Bark thin, grey. Wood soft, close-grained, greyish-white. Leaves 2-3 by ¾-l½ in., membranous, oblong or oblong-lanceolate, obtuse or acuminate, glaucous and pubescent when young; base acute, pellucid-dotted, with a peculiar smell. Flowers solitary or in pair,