Page:Indian Medicinal Plants (Text Part 1).djvu/587

Rh

Syn. : — Mimosa dumosa, Roxb. M. obovata, Roxb. 422.

Vern. :— Palesa (Afg.); Phulahi (Pb.) ; Kântosariyo Guz.).

Habitat : — At the foot of the Western and Central Himalayas.

A thorny, moderate-sized, deciduous tree. Bark rough, with a multitude of narrow irregular cracks. Wood extremely hard, harder than that of A. Catechu ; sapwood large, white, perishable ; heartwood dark brown with black streaks (Gamble). Branches grey, glabrous, prickles twin, infra-stipular, dark-brown, shining, conical ; leaf-rachis very slender, finely downy, with a small gland at the base and one between the uppermost pinnæ. Leaves pale grey ; common petiole l-2in. long, pinnæ 3 pair ; leaflets 3-5 pair, broad, ovate or obovate, oblique, thin, rigidly subcoriaceous, ⅛-⅜in. long, shortly stalked, glabrous, pale green, obtuse or minutely cuspidate. Stipules minute, deciduous. Spikes 2-3in. long, not very dense, lax, drooping. Flowers white or pale-yellow, sweet-scented. Corolla 1/12in., greenish. Pod 2-3 by ⅜--⅝in., flat, indehiscent, 6-8-seeded, glossy, drab, glabrous, venulose, narrowed generally into a short stalk.

Use :— The tree yields a gum, which is regarded by the people of the Peshawar Valley as restorative (BELLEW).

Syn. : — Mimosa concinna, ''Willd. Roxb''. Fl. Ind. II. 565.

Sans. Saptala.

Vern.: — Ban rithâ, Kochai(B); Aila, Rassaul (Oudh) ; Shika- (Tam.) ; Shikaya, gogu (Tel.) ; Chinik (Mal.) ; Shikekai, chikekai (Dec,) ; Sige (Kan.)

Habitat: — The Eastern Himalayas; Eastern and Western Peninsulas.

A large climbing shrub, suberect up to about middle-age ; stem terete, greyish, brown-with 5 vertical lines of strong conical prickles ; branches grey-canescent. Leaf-rachis 4-8in. long, downy, with a large gland about ½in. above the base and a smaller one between the uppermost pinna). Pinnæ 3-6 pair, 2-3½in. long ; stipules ¼-3/16in. long, lanceolate. Leaflets acid, 6-20, but generally 10-14 pair on each pinna, with a small