Page:Indian Medicinal Plants (Text Part 1).djvu/689

Rh one or two loose motions. It is also considered anthelmintic. For external use in chronic rheumatism, it is made into a liniment with cumin seed, onion and castor oil. In the Deccan and in Mysore, the root has a repute as a remedy for snake-bite ; it is administered internally, and applied to the bitten part (Dymock and Ph. Ind.).

Sans. : — Chirpota ; Dîrghapatra ; Kuntali ; Tiktaka.

Vern :— Chirpota (H.) ; Penar-valli (Mai.) ; Chiraputi (Mar.) ; Penar-Valli(Mal.)

Habitat : — Assam and East Bengal; Deccan Peninsula; and Malabar Mountains.

Perennial, climbing herbs. Tendrils simple. Stems stout, cylindrical, semi-woody, grey, glabrous. Leaves large, 3-6in., deciduous, leaving a very prominent circular scar, broadly oval to lanceolate, rounded or cordate at base, somewhat acuminate, apiculate, quite entire, glabrous, rather thick ; reticulate venation, rather conspicuous beneath. Flowers greenish-yellow, rather small (female much the larger), on short pedicels. Male panicles 6-12in. long, branched chiefly at base, with flowers in small clusters. Female recames longer, with flowers solitary, distant. Calyx-segments rotundate, concave, glabrous ; petals ovate acuminate obi use, with incurved points. Male flowers: — filament short, broad, spreading. Female flower: — ovary ½in., glabrous ; styles rather long ; capsule 1-1½in. or more, cylindrical, rounded at base, truncate, at apex, glabrous, pale yellowish-brown. Seed with wind as long as the fruit, very flat, glabrous, yellow, wing ronnded at the ends (Trimen).

Uses : — The leaves, beaten up with milk and butter, are applied as a liniment in antispasmodic affections (Rheede).

The fruits are said to possess very acrid cathartic properties. Hakims assert that the fresh juice is very efficacious as an antidote to the venomous bites of the gecko (S. Arjun).

The Sinhalese value the plant as a febrifuge (Thwaites).

In Malabar, a bath made by boiling the leaves in water is used to remove the nervous irritation caused by boils (Dymock).