

TRICHOSANTHES PALMATA 127 



sessile, in axils of leaves. Calyx 5-toothed. Corolla large, 5 

 lanceolate petals curved outward, fleshy. Stigmas 5, fringed. 

 Fruit about size of child's head or smaller, somewhat pear- 

 shaped, juicy, pulp melon-like, 1 compartment with numerous 

 seeds, each in a mucilaginous aril. 



CUCURBITACEiE. 



Gourd Family. 



Trichosanthes palmata, Roxb. (71 tricuspis, Mig.; T. luci- 

 onicma, Bares.) 



NOM. VULG. (?). 



Uses. — Roxburgh states that the fruit is toxic and sometimes 

 used to kill crows. Dymock states that the leaf is smoked in 

 Bombay as a remedy for asthma. 



The extremely bitter taste of the fruit and rind induced Sir 

 W. O'Shaughnessy to examine it for tonic and purgative prop- 

 erties ; doses as high as 0.20 gram 3 times a day failed to 

 exert a purgative effect. The root is used in veterinary medi- 

 cine particularly for pneumonia. Mixed with equal parts of 

 colocynth it is applied to carbuncles. In combination with 

 equal parts of Terminalia chebula and ginger it is made into a 

 sweetened infusion for internal use in gonorrhoea. 



Botanical Description. — A climber with broad, heart- 

 shaped, serrate, 7-lobulate leaves. Flowers monoecious ; stami- 

 nate white and racemose; pistillate solitary, growing at the 

 base of the staminate racemes. Staminate receptacle tubular, 

 calyx inserted on the border of the receptacle, 5 sepals. Corolla, 

 5 petals. Stamens 5, of which 4 are in pairs. Pistillate : the 

 receptacle dilates in its lower part in form of a globose vase and 

 encloses the unilocular pluriovulate ovary. Fruit ovoid or 

 pyriform, scarlet when fresh, orange-yellow when dry. Seeds 

 of irregular form, somewhat triangular. Kernel oily. 



Habitat. — Luzon. 



