Page:Indian Medicinal Plants (Text Part 1).djvu/142

62 deeply lobed; ovary 1, hairy, style shortly 3-fid. Drupe hairy, globose scarlet, 1/6 inch diara. Endocarp transversely ridged and tuberculate. Seed horse-shoe-shaped.

Parts used:—The root, bark and leaves.

Uses:—Sanskrit writers consider the root to be light, bitter, astringent and useful in fever, diarrhoea, urinary diseases, dyspepsia, etc.

Ainslie writes:—"The leaves of this plant are considered by the Vytians as of a peculiarly cooling quality, but the root is the part most esteemed ; it has an agreeable, bitterish taste, and is considered as a valuable stomachic. It is frequently prescribed in the later stages of the bowel complaints, in conjunction with aromatics." It is reported to be antilithic (Dymock).

"Used locally in cases of unhealthy sores and sinuses. Root given for pains in the stomach and for dyspepsia, diarrhoea, dropsy and cough; also for prolapsus uteri.—and applied externally in snake bite and scorpion sting." (Watt.)

It is officinal in the Pharmacopoeia of India, where its medicinal properties are described as " mild tonic and diuretic exercising apparently an astringent and sedative action on the mucous membranes of the genito-urinary organs.

 

49. Berberis vulgaris, Linn, 109.

Vern.:—Zirishk; Kashmal; Chachar or Chochar (Pb.); Bedana; Cutch (Pers.) Chatrod (Jaunsar).

Habitat:—Himalaya from Nepal westward, in shady forests, above 8,000 ft., Jaunsar and Tehri-Garhwal 12,000 ft., Simla, Narkunda, 8,000—12,000 ft, Tibet, Afghanistan.

A small, deciduous, thorny shrub. Bark brown or grey, 1/6 in. thick. Wood lemon-yellow, moderately hard, even-grained. Annual rings marked by an irregular belt of small pores, which are larger than those in the rest of the wood. Leaves 1-3 in. long, broadly ovate, or spathulate, membranous or thinly-coriaceous, 