VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 287 



Conioselinum. Mnivittatiim^ but is lighter and less juicy. The 

 plant has small, bipinnate, entire leaves. As found in the 

 shops, the roots are yellowish-brown, branched and nodulated, 

 with small rootlets and portions of the stem attached to them. 

 They have a sweetish and somewhat acrid flavor. Stimulant, 

 antispasmodic, arthritic, deobstruant, alterative, and resolvent 

 properties are attributed to the drug. It is especially recom- 

 mended for women, and is also employed in congestive affections 

 of the skin. It is added to cosmetic preparations, both on 

 account of its good influence on the skin and of its fragrance. 

 The seeds are employed in rheumatic aflfections of the extrem- 

 ities as a resolvent. 



NUPHAR JAPONICUM.— f4i ^ ^ (P'ing-p'eng-ts'ao). 

 This is also called 7JC Jg (Shui-su), "water millet," on account 

 of the resemblance of its seeds. It grows in the southern 

 provinces in marshes and ponds, the leaves resembling those 

 of Lijyinanthenium nymphoides. It bears yellow flowers, and 

 has a root-stock like that of the lotus, which in famine years 

 is eaten. Its seeds are borne in a capsule about two inches 

 long, and they resemble poppy seeds. They are also edible, 

 and are made use of by the people living in the marshy country 

 in which the plant grows. The flavor of the root is compared 

 to that of the chestnut, and for this reason the plant is some- 

 times called 7JC ^ -?■ (Shui-li-tzu). The king of Ch'u ferried 

 the river and found the fruit of the ^fi (P'ing), large as a peck 

 measure, red like the sun, and sweet as honey to the taste. 

 This quotation from the Book of History is supposed to refer to 

 this plant. The seeds are supposed to benefit the spleen and 

 intestines and to satisfy hunger. The root is regarded as 

 constructive and tonic, benefits the digestive organs, and in- 

 creases the bodily strength. 



NYCTANTHES ARBOR TRISTIS.—^ 1^ (Nai-hua), 

 j^^f5" (Hung-mo-li). This is the ^^ night-blooming JastJiitie''^ 

 or musk flower of Eastern India. It is called hursinghar in 

 India, and is used both in China and in India as a red dye and 

 as an ornament It is not distinguished in the Pentsao from 

 lasmtnum sambac. 



