262 PLANTAGINACFJZ. 



oblong, sub -acute, membranous with green midrib, or the inner entirely 

 membranous. Corolla glabrous, tube £ in. long ; lobes as long as the 

 tube, ovate, acute, concave. Capsule ■§• in. long, ovoid, subobtuse, cells 

 1-2 seeded. Seeds £ in. long, boat- shaped, nearly black. — Mai wa (Edge- 

 worth). Disteib. Punjab Plain westward from the Sutlej ; also inSind, 

 extending westwards to Egypt and Greece. The seeds are sometimes 

 used as a substitute for those of P. ovata. 



P« ovata. Forsli. Fl. Mgypt. Arab. 31 ; Duthie Field andGard.Crops } N. W. 

 Prov. and Oudh part Hi, 53, t, 92 ; F. B. I. iv, 707 ; Watt E. D.;Cooke Fl. 

 Bomb, ii, 478. P. Ispaghula, Pvoxb. Fl. Ind. i,404; Royle Til. 312. Vern. 

 Ispaghnl, isafgol.—A softly hairy annual, stemless or nearly so. Leaves 

 linear or filiform, finely acuminate. Spikes ^-1| in. long, ovoid or 

 cylindrie. Sepals elliptic, obtuse. Corolla-lohes rounded, apiculate. 

 Capsule 2 seeded. Seeds light-brown. This plant is cultivated in some 

 of the western districts of the area for the sake of the seeds, which 

 yield, when boiled, a large amount of tasteless mucilage. This latter is 

 much used by the natives as a remedy for diarrhoea and dysentery. The 

 plant grows wild in the Punjab Plain and on low hills from the Sutlej 

 westwards, extending to Persia, Spain and the Canary Islands. 



