Page:Indian Medicinal Plants (Text Part 1).djvu/647

Rh sometimes reaching 1¼in. by 1in. ; the capsule is broadly ovoid, the lower third enclosed in the persistent Calyx. Seed with wing ½-¾in. long, pale brown.

Uses : — The root is prescribed as an astringent. " Its root, bark, leaves, and flowers are used medicinally by the Natives " (Beddome). The Rev. J. Long, in an article on the Indigenous Plants of Bengal, states that the seeds are narcotic, the bark and leaves purgative (Jour. Agri-Hort. Soc. of Ind. (Old Series), IX., 423). Dr. Thomson reports, that the fruit of the Pyenma is used in the Andamans as a local application for aphthæ of the mouth (Jour. Agri-Hort. Soc. of Ind. (Old Series), XL, 446).

" The bark, of this and of L. indica, Linn., is considered stimulant and febrifuge " (Surgeon-Major W. D. Stewart, Cuttack).

Vern. ' — Orcha, archaka (B.) ; Sundari guna (Uriya) ; ; Tivar (Bomb.)

Habitat :— Forests of the Sind-Coast. Rather common in Ceylon, in tidal Estuaries with the Man-groves. Also in the Dekkan Peninsula, in the Concan Littoral, forests of Bengal, Delta of the Indus, Sunderban, Burma, Siam, Java. Coast, from Chittagong to Tenassarim, ascending the rivers as far as the tides. Malay Peninsula and the Achipelago. Brandis makes the following noteworthy observations : — This and the other species of Sonneratia as well as a few other Mangrove' trees send up, from their widely spreading horizontal roots, vertical branches, with soft pith-like wood which serve to facilitate the interchange of gas between the atmosphere and the roots buried in the mud of the tidal swamp.

A small tree, attaining 30ft. Root-branches frequent and continuous. Wood light, soft, even-grained (Gamble). Twigs quadrangular. Leaves nearly sessile, 2¼-3in., oblong-oval or roundish, tapering to base, obtuse, sometimes apiculate at apex, slightly fleshy. Flowers dark rose-red, large, 3in. long, terminal, solitary, on very short thick pedicels, buds not ribbed, blunt, but apiculate at apex ; Calyx-tube, quite without ribs,