596 



Plants oj the Punjab. 



Climbing Plants with Alternate Stipulate Compound Leaves, 



Abrus precatorius, 



Gaungchi, ratak, 

 lahri. 



Leguminos^e. 

 P. B. I. ii. 175. 

 The Plains to 

 3,500 ft. 



Cicer soongaricum, 



Tizhu, sarri. 

 Leguminos^. 

 F. B. I. ii. 176. 

 Hima'aya, 

 9-15,000 ft. 

 Spiti; Lahul. 



Vicia hirsu'a, 

 Hairy vetch or tare, 



Masur-chana. 

 Leguminosjb. 

 F. B. I. ii. 177, 

 The Plains to 

 6,000 ft. 

 Jaku, Simla. 



Petals ununited. 



angled, winged, seed black with white heart- haped pro- 

 tuberances. This plant is used medicinally, the green 

 parts eaten as a vegetable. The root is emetic, diuretic, 

 and laxative, the seeds, hab-ul-lialkal, aie ;onic and dia- 

 phoretic. 



perennial, woody, branches many, smooth or silky, 

 slender; leaves 2-3 in. long, leaflet'; 20-40 in oppo ite pairs, 

 |-| by |-| in., hgulate-ob'ong, thin, smooth above, silky 

 beneath, leaf stalk ending in a tendril ; flowers |in., pink 

 or white, in dense axillary stalked racemes, shorter than 

 the leave-, calyx y\j- in., thinly silky, bell-shaped, teeth 

 very short, corolla much protruding, standard petal ovate, 

 w'ng petals narrow, keel petals curved, stamens 9 ; pod 

 1-1| in. long, thick, oblong, 3-5-seeded, seeds the size of a 

 pea, nearly round, usually fcarlet and black or white and 

 black. The seeds, rati, are used by jewellers as weights ; 

 as the specific name denotes, they are also used as beads in 

 rosaries. The root is used as a substitute I'or hquorice. 

 The powdered seeds are used to poison cattle by in- 

 sertion under the skin in the shape of a mall pencil and 

 called sui. When applied to the conjunctiva, purulent 

 ophthalmia is caused. 



annual, widely spreading, stems wiry, finely velvety 

 or smooth ; leaves 3-4 in., ending in a spiral tendril, leaf- 

 lets 20-40, ovate with a broad tip to wedge-shaped, veins 

 marked, stipules |-| in., palmately divided : flowers f 

 in., pink, blue or white, solitary in the axils on stalks 1| 

 in. with a large bract, calyx f in., pouched, calyx tube 

 oblique, teeth 5, lanceolate, corolla projecting, standard 

 petal broad, stamens 10 ; pod 1 in. long, densely velvety, 

 linear-oblong, narrowed into the styles, seeds nearly round, 

 beaked. The seeds are eaten, also used locally to fatten 

 cattle. A vinegar forms with i he dew on the leaves. 



annual, hairy, stems slender, 1-3 ft., velvety ; leaves 

 H-3 in., even pinnate ending in a twisted tendril, leaf- 

 lets 10-16, |-1 in., stipules almost forked, toothed at the 

 base ; flowers I in., white tinged with blue, in six- or less- 

 flowered racemes, shorter than thf leaves, calyx bell- 

 shaped, teeth 5, 3 lower longest, corolla just projecting 

 from the calyx, standard erect, broad, keel nearly straight 

 obtuse, shorter than the wings, stamens 10, upper free ; 

 pod I'l in., hairy, oblong, short-pointed, black, seeds 2. 

 A weed of wheat fields, sometimes cultivated for fodder. 



