Page:Indian Medicinal Plants (Text Part 1).djvu/316

236 chatom arak (Santal.) ; chengeri tenga (Assam) ; Pullainpurachi sappu (Kan) ; Poli yárala (Mal).

Eng : — The Indian sorrel.

Habitat : — Throughout the warmer parts of India.

An annual or biennial appressed-pubescent, diffuse herb of very variable size and habit. Stems branched, procumbent, without runners. Leaves long-petioled, all cauline, 3-foliate. Leaflets obcordate. Stipules adnate to the petiole. Peduncles axillary ; petals yellow, notched. Flowers sub umbel late, ¾-in. diam. Sepals obtuse, bracts setaceous. Fruiting pedicels depressed. Capsules tomentose. subcylindric. Cells many- seeded. Seeds transversly ribbed,

Part used : — The whole plant.

Uses : — The leaves are considered by the Sanskrit writers, as cooling, refrigerant and stomachic. The fresh juice expressed from them is said to relieve intoxication from Datura ; and said to be useful in dysentery and prolapsus of the rectum. (DUTT.)

An infusion of the small leaves is given as a cooling medicine in fevers (Honingberger ). It is used externally to remove warts and opacities of the cornea. (B. Powell. )

The fresh leaves made into a curry are said to improve the appetite and digestion of dyspeptic patients. Bruised with or without water, they are formed into a poultice and applied over inflamed parts, by which means, great cold is produced, and pain and other symptoms are relieved. Prepared with hot water, the leaves make a very efficient poultice for boils. The leaves are refrigerant and anti-scorbutic. (Moodeen Sheriff.)

In the Concan the plant is rubbed down with water, boiled and the juice of white onions added ; this mixture is applied to the head in bilious headache. (DYMOCK.)

( Sinhalese) Hin-Embul-Sinhiliya.

Habitat: — Temperate Himalaya, from Kashmir to Sikkim. One of the commonest weeds throughout Ceylon,