Page:Indian Medicinal Plants (Text Part 1).djvu/534

454 A large, erect, deciduous tree. Bark between ⅓-½in. thick, grey, exfoliating in narrow, longitudinal stripes. Wood very hard, close-grained ; sapwood small, white ; heart-wood brown, with darker longitudinal veins. Branches finely greyish, downy. Leaf-rachis zigzag. Leaflets large, 3-5, roundish, with a very distinct cusp, firm, soon glabrescent, 1-3 in. long. Flowers in short axillary panicles, which latter are much shorter than the leaves, the erect patent branches densely pubescent, racernoso-corymbose ; pedicels short. Calyx 1/6in. deep, downy ; teeth very short, the lowest rather the longest, lanceolate. Corolla yellowish, twice the length of the Calyx; standard with a long claw and round limb. Stamens 9in one bundle, the sheath of the filaments being split only along the top. Pod thin, straight, strap-shaped, pale brown, glabrous, l½-4 by ¼-½in., obtuse, with a stalk twice as long as the Calyx, 1-4-seeded. Seeds ¼in. long, kidney-shaped, flat.

Uses: — The raspings of the wood are officinal, being considered alterative (Beddome).

Useful in leprosy, boils, eruptions and to allay vomiting. ( Punjab Products). :

The roots are said to be so astringent that they are neither eaten by rats nor ants. The oil is applied externally in cutaneous affections ("Atkinson).

The mucilage of the leaves mixed with sweet-oil is a good application in excoriations. A decoction of the leaves is given in the acute stage of gonorrhœa (Watt.) The seeds give 9-1 per cent of oil.

Vern. :— Pentgul (Bomb.) ; Titábli (Goa).

Habitat : — Hills of the Western Peninsula.

A large, scandent shrub ; stems armed with blunt or sharp twisted or straight spines, 6-10in. long. Leaves 4-6in. long ; rachis softly pubescent; leaflets 11-15, ovate-oblong, obtuse, or emarginate, coriaceous, thickly covered with grey or brown-silky hairs especially beneath, 3/5-1 by 3/10-½in. ; petiolules 1/10in. long. Panicles peduncled ; the ultimate branches secund, corymbose.