He considers that it is justly held in estimation by the native practitioners. In Puddokota, the juice is applied to itch and other skin diseases (Pharmacographia Indica, Vol. II., p. 103).
563 M. stricta, Linn, h.f.b.i., ii, 663.
Syn. : — M. triphylla, Lour Roxb. 121.
Vern : — Jul-papra (B.); kharas (Bomb.).
Habitat: — Very common throughout India.
Branched glabrous herbs. Stems a foot high, leafy ; Leaves ¾-1½in., whorled or opposite, varying from lanceolate acute to obovate obtuse, much narrowed at the base ; petiole hence obscure. Cymes compound, the branches sometimes racemed. Sepals 1/16in.; elliptic or round. Stamens 3-5, filaments dilated. Styles 3, short, linear. Capsule as long as the sepals, globose, many-seeded, the walls thin. Seeds dark, chestnut-coloured, covered with raised tubercular points ; embryo curled into three-quarters of a complete circle.
Use : — Highly esteemed by the Hindus as a bitter vegetable which they eat occasionally on account of its stomachic, aperient and antiseptic properties. An infusion of the plant is given to women to promote the menstrual discharge (Dymock).
The bitter leaves are antiperiodic (Surgeon-Major Stewart, in Watt's Dictionary).
564. M. Cerviana, Seringe, h.f.b.i., ii. 663.
Vern. : — Ghima sák (Beng.) ; Pada (Mar.); Parpada gaum (Tam.) ; Parpataka (Tel.).
Habitat : —Hotter and drier parts of India, from the Punjab to Ceylon.
An annual marsh, plant, herbaceous, glabrous, much branched. Stems 3-6in., erect, usually several. Leaves ½-¾in., radical leaves tufted, spathulate or obovate ; cauline leaves linear-oblong, often 4-8 in a whorl, whence spring umbellately many branches. Peduncles trichotomous or umbellate-cymose. Sepals 1/12in., elliptic or round. Stamens 5. Styles very small. Capsule as long as the sepals, globose, many-seeded. Seeds reticulated without, tubercular raised points " pink-chestnut or yellowish, covered with slightly elevated oblong reticulations, bluntly
