452 Lieut.- Col. Madden on some Plants 



reaching Calcutta. The name Madar* applies to both : the 

 term Ak, also often applied, is from Sans. Arka, 'the sun/ to 

 which the flowers always turn ; hence^ where the two occur, 

 C. gigantea is called Bara akand ; C. 'procera, Chhota akand ; 

 great and small Calotropis. 



Griffith (Itinerary Notes, p. 207) has nearly the same distri- 

 bution as above : " Calotropis Hamiltonii ; very common through- 

 out the sandy plains of India, on the N. side of the Rajmahal 

 hills, to the complete exclusion of C. gigantea. In appearance 

 there is scarcely any difference, and, as far as foliage goes, per- 

 haps none ; the flowers are smaller, and invariably the leaflets 

 much smaller and bilobed at the apex.'' Dr. Hamilton (Linn. 

 Trans, xiv. 246-248) explains the differences excellently. Dr. 

 Hooker (Notes of a Tour in the Plains of India, P. ii. p. 78) 

 notices nearly the same distribution as Griffith : " The species 

 look very different, but when gathered, there is extreme diffi- 

 culty in recognizing them." He adds, that "there is considerable 

 discrepancy of opinion as to their comparative efficacy, the votes 

 being in favour of C. gigantea.'^ 



"Catalogue, No. 781. Swertia Chirata. Bara Chirata. '^ 



®^No. 782. Gentiana Chei'ayti. Chhota Chirata. 

 "^''Dr. Hamilton informs us (p. 85) that of these two species the 

 smaller (782) is the one most in request. It is the Agathotes 

 Cherayta of D. Don (Linn. Trans, xvii. 522) ; Gentiana flori- 

 hunda (Prod. 127) ; G. Chirata, Wall. (P. A. R. iii. 34. t. 252, 

 where the flowers are of far too intense a yellow). Dr. Hamilton 

 truly describes it as a perennial ; it has yellow roots, hence the 

 Arabic Kasb-al-zarirach, ' yellow stem or twig' (Royle, 278) ; it 

 brings twice the price of the other kinds: "sapore intense 

 amaro," Wall., who also notes its " radix perennis." It flou- 

 rishes in woods and shady places, with Plantago-like leaves, and 

 is the largest plant of the whole, reaching 4^ feet high; so that 

 the native appellation, given by Dr. Hamilton, does not apply. 



No. 781 is probably Ophelia angustifoliaj from which much 

 of the Chirayita of commerce is obtainedf; but several other 



* Madarine, the active principle of C. gigantea, " possesses the pro- 

 perty of coagulating by heat, and becoming again fluid on exposure to 

 cold." 



t D. Don (Linn. Trans. I. c. 524) says it is "more bitter than the last,*' 

 the Agathotes. Wallich, on the contrary (PI. As. Rar. iii. 2), says that it 

 and paniculata " possess only a slight degree of bitter taste." Don is here 

 most correct, according to my experience. 



The large and handsome Swertias of the Alpine Himalaya do not appear 

 to be imported to the plains. 



Chirayita derives its name from the Kiratas, a people of Eastern Nepal, 

 the CirrhadcB of Arrian : hence the Sanscrit Kirata-tikta ; but the moun- 

 taineers call it simply Kanda Tita, 'bitter stem.* 



