Page:Indian Medicinal Plants (Text Part 1).djvu/453

Rh

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