354 Sino-Iranica 



f&tidum). 1 It is generally used in India as a condiment, being espe- 

 cially eaten with pulse and rice. Wherever the plant grows, the fresh 

 leaves are cooked and eaten as a green vegetable, especially by the 

 natives of Bukhara, who also consider as a delicacy the white under part 

 of the stem when roasted and flavored with salt and butter. In the 

 pharmacopoeia it is used as a stimulant and antispasmodic. 



Abu Mansur, the Persian Li Si-cen of the tenth century, discrimi- 

 nates between two varieties of asafcetida (Persian anguyan, Arabic 

 anjudan), a white and a black one, adding that there is a third kind 

 called by the Romans sesalius. It renders food easily digestible, strength- 

 ens the stomach, and alleviates pain of the joints in hands and feet. 

 Rubbed into the skin, it dispels swellings, especially if the milky juice 

 of the plant is employed. The root macerated in vinegar strengthens 

 and purifies the stomach, promotes digestion, and acts as an appetizer. 2 



The Ferula and Scorodosma furnishing asafcetida are typically 

 Iranian plants. According to Abu Hanlfa," asa grows in the sandy plains 

 extending between Bost and the country Klkan in northern Persia. 

 Abu Mansur designates the leaves of the variety from Sarachs near 

 Merw as the best. Acgording to Istaxrl, asa was abundantly produced 

 in the desert between the provinces Seistan and Makran; according to 

 Edrlsi, in the environment of Kaleh Bust in Afghanistan. Kaempfer 

 observed the harvest of the plant in Laristan in 1687, and gives the 

 following notice on its occurrence: 4 "Patria eius sola est Persia, non 

 Media, Libya, Syria aut Cyrenaica regio. In Persia plantam hodie 

 alunt saltern duorum locorum tractus, videlicet campi montesque circa 

 Heraat, emporium provinciae Chorasaan, et jugum montium in 

 provincia Laar, quod a flumine Cuur adusque urbem Congo secundum 

 Persici sinus tractum extenditur, duobus, alibi tribus pluribusve para- 

 sangis a litore." Herat is a renowned place of production, presumably 

 the exclusive centre of production at the present day, whence the 

 product is shipped to India. 



The exact geographical distribution has been well outlined by E. 

 Borszczow. 5 Aside from Persia proper, Scorodosma occurs also on the 

 Oxus, on the Aral Sea, and in an isolated spot on the east coast of the 

 Caspian Sea. Judging from Chinese accounts, plants yielding asa 

 appear to have occurred also near Khotan (see below), Turf an, and 



1 The genus Ferula contains about sixty species. 



2 Achundow, Abu Mansur, p. 8. 



s Leclerc, Traite" des simples, Vol. I, p. 142. 



4 Amoenitates exoticae, p. 291. 



5 Ferulaceen der aralo-caspischen Wuste (Mimoires de VAcad. de St. PSters- 

 bourg, Vol. Ill, No. 8, i860, p. 16). 



