Page:Indian Medicinal Plants (Text Part 1).djvu/719

Rh

Vern. : — Richh kas ; Mushkiâra ; ganhûla gándal ; gwándish ; Siske tâsar (Pb).

Habitat : — Kashmir and Western Himalaya.

A gregarious, herbaceous plant. Stems mostly simple, 3-6ft. high. Leaves unequally pinnate, 9in. Leaflets 5-9, oblong-lanceolate, free, 3-6in., puberulous, or nearly glabrous. Stipules often foliaceous, serrate. Corymbs peduncled or leafy at the base, compact and many-rayed. Bracteoles minute, linear. Corolla 1/6in. diam., broadly companulate, white, pink, or dark purple. Drupe 1/6in. diam., globose, black. C. B. Clarke observes that the flowers, European as well as Indian, have a strong piculiar odour, and that the uppermost flowers are barren.

Use : — The roots have purgative properties, and are used in dropsy, as also the berries (Honigberger).

In England, the berries, and also decoction made of the root and bark of this plant, are very old village medicines, and are in occasional use in country places. They are violently emetic.

An infusion of the fresh or dried flowers is used for cold.

A preparation made from leaves and flowers is an old country medicine for rheumatism.

An oil, obtained by distilling the leaves with steam, is of a dark-brown colour, and has an unpleasant odour, : Sp. Gr. 0.8998 at 15° C. ; acid value, 250-90 ; ester value, 46.0. The saponified oil has a pleasant odour, resembling that of apricots and peaches, and contains an alcohol which has not been identified. Palmitic acid was detected in the oil. (H. Haencel in Chem. Zentr. 1910, abstracted in J. Ch. I. for May 31, 1910, p.649).

Vern. :— Nara Vela (M.)

Habitat : — Khasia Mountains and Assam.

An erect shrub, 6-10 ft. ; branchlets, petioles and inflores-cence, stellate hairy. Leaves coriaceous, rhomboid, lanceolate