494 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY , Vol. XIX. 



LXVIIL-URTICA 



Celt'is austrahs. 



Trenta politoria. 



Cantiahiit sativa. 



flogs and other uuinials. The seeds are often used 

 to adulterate " bai-berang " which are the seeds of 

 Emhelia ribes. I noticed in Chamba the hill people 

 chewing the leaves of " Rohni " in place of " Pan." 

 It possesses an agreeable aromatic taste. 



Vernacuhir " Kharik. " is common throughout the 

 Dun and ascends here to over 5,000 feet, generall.y 

 about village areas. The wood is yellowish and 

 is tough and elastic. The leaves are lopped for 

 fodder. Flowers duriug the warm weather, fruits 

 in rains. 



Vernacular •" Kliagsa, " fairly common on the lower 

 warmer slopes generally on waste lands; the leaves are 

 rough and are used as sand paper in polishing horn, 

 the bark is strong and yields a good fibre. Flowers 

 during the hot months, fruits in the rains. 



The Indian hemp, vernacular " Bhang. " is a com- 

 mon weed up here, wherever a field is left fallow for 

 a season the "bhang" grows up thickly to the 

 exclusion of all other vegetation. Farther in the 

 interior it is grown as a field crop chiefly for its fine, 

 excellent fibre which the paharis spin and weave into 

 a coarse canvas, also used for nets and fishing lines. 

 The seeds form an article 'of food, arc roasted or 

 parched and eaten, apparently vfith great relish, mixed 

 with equal proportions of Amaranth seeds similarly 

 treated. Besides the above uses this useful plant 

 yields three distinct drugs. 



The flowering tops of the female plant which arc 

 fully charged with gum are dried and sold under the 

 name of " Ganga." The gum '• Charras " is extracted 

 by rubbing the plant briskly between the palms to 

 which the gum readily adheres and is scraped oft' and 

 collected for the market. The dried coarser leaves 

 are sold under the name " Bhang." 



It is perhaps curious that while the English word 

 canvas is derived from cannabis the pahari name 

 " Bhaugela " has for its origin " Bhang." The seeds 

 produced under cultivation are much larger and 

 contain more oil than of plants that grow up spon- 

 taneously. 



