Plants oj the Punjab, 



599 



Climbing Plants with Alternate Stipulate Compound Leaves, 



Petals ununited. 



Mucuna pruriens, 

 Cowitch or cowhage, 



Kawanoh, goncha. 

 Leguminos^. 

 P. B. I. ii. 187. 

 Th9 Plains to 

 2,000 ft. 

 Hathni Kund. 



annual, slender, branches velvety with flat-lying 

 hairs at first, almost smooth afterwards ; leaves 6-9 in. 

 of 3 leaflets, leaflets 3-6 in. long, ovate-oblong, grey 

 silky below, almost smooth and green above ; flowers 

 1|-1| in. long purplish in long, short-stalked drooping 

 racemes, 6-12 in., bracts small, lanceolate, calyx f in., 

 teeth 5, 2 upper united, lowest longer than the middle 

 ones, corolla protruding far, keel and wings about equal, 

 standard half as long ; pod 2-3 in, long, ribbed, covered 

 with grey or rusty weak irritating bristles, seeds 5-6. The 

 irritating hairs on the pods are used in medicine as 

 anthelmentics. The powdered seeds are used in Indian 

 medicine as aphrodisiac, the root as a nervine tonic, 



Spatholobus 

 Roxburghii, 



Mula, mala. 

 Leguminosje. 

 p. B. I. ii. 193, 

 The Plains. 



perennial, woody, stout, branches covered with dense 

 grey down ; leaves of 3 leaflets, leaflets 6-8 in., ovate with 

 a broad tip or narrowed to both ends ; flowers -| in., bright 

 red to white, in terminal branching racemes, 1-1| ft. long, 

 very downy, calyx \-l in., bell-shaped, densely grey velvety, 

 teeth 5, lower lanceolate, corolla half as long again as the 

 calyx, keel nearly straight, blunt, stamens 10, all united 

 but the upper one ; pod 3-4 in. long, 1 in. broad, covered 

 with rusty felt especially towards the tip, stalk | in, long, 

 seed one. A gum like kino exudes from the bark, an oil 

 is obtained from the seeds, which is used for cooking. 



Pueraria tuberosa, 



Sural, siali, 

 Leguminos^. 

 F. B. I. ii. 197. 

 The Plains to 

 4,000 ft. 



Ilasantpur, Sutlej 

 Valley (CoUett). 



perennial, roots tuberous, stems velvety, twining, 

 widely chmbing, leaves falling in winter ; leaves of 3 leaf- 

 lets, arranged pinnately, leaflets 4-9 in., broadly ovate- 

 accuminate, lateral obhque, green smoothish above, densely 

 white velvety beneath, stipules minute, soon falling off, 

 ovate-heart-shaped ; flowers |-| in., bright blue, in dense 

 leafless twiggy, often branched racemes, bracts minute, 

 calyx |-J in., very silky, teeth almost blunt, 2 upper 

 united, corolla distinctly spurred at the base, wings 

 obhquely oblong, keel blunt, stamens 10, all united, 

 style thread-like, much incurved, beardless ; pod 2-3 in, 

 long, flat, linear, contracted between the seeds, densely 

 covered with soft brown bristle-hke hairs, tipped with the 

 style base, seeds 2-6, divided by partitions. The tubers, 

 bilai hand, are given as food for cattle, also used as a cooUng 

 medicine, more rarely as human food. 



