-^ 



8 SCEOP EULA R INEM. 



medicinally 



milk 



Description. — In its most common form a simple or 



branched plant 4—8 in. liigli, witli wliorled pinnatifid leaves 

 4 — I ill- long, wliicli, in wetter places, appears to acquire a few 

 emerscd, opposite, entire leaves at the top of the stem, and 

 nnmerons capillaceo-multifid ones at its base. The stems are 

 stout or slender. Very small specimens from Roliilkund 

 (Kuttra, Edgeworth) have very wiry simple stems 3 in. higH, 

 and capillary peduncles tkree times as long as tlie leaves; 

 otliers liaye stout stems and peduncles, the latter shorter than 

 the leaves. Calyx |— ^ in. long, rarely larger. Corolla ^ in., 

 blue. (^FL Br, Ind.) 



HERPESTIS MONNIERA. iT. B. e^X 



Fig. — Bot. Mag 



Ho 



(F> 



Hab. — Throughout India, in marshy ground. The 

 herb. 



Vernacular.— Suf ed-chamni, Barambhi {Rind. ) , Dhop-chamni, 

 Brihmi-sak {Beng.), Nir-brami, Bamba {Mar.), Nir-brami 

 {Tani.), Sambr»ni-aku, Sambrgni-chettu {Tel.). 



History, Uses, &C.— Dutt states that this plant is 



of the native physicians of Calcutta, where it is 

 considered to be a nervine tonic useful in insanity, epilepsy, 

 fever, &c. It is certainly not the Brahmi of the Nighantas, but 

 would appear to be the plant called Jala-brahmi or ''Water 

 Brahmi" by Sanskrit writers. Owing to a similarity in the 

 names it has frequently been confounded y^iih Hydrocotyk 

 asiatica, which is the Brahmi or Brahmi-manduka of the 



mi 



Nigliantas 



Soutliern India the Gratiola Man 



ennsidpr.a diuretic and aperient, and useful in that sort of 



