N. 0. RANUNCULACE2E. 6 



glabrous above, slightly pubescent beneath. Flowers yellowish 

 or greenish white, f in. diain., small in dense axillary panicles. 

 Sepals ovate or oblong, revolute, pubernlous, \-\. in., margins 

 tomentose. Filaments narrow-linear. Achenes hairy, lanceo- 

 late, Style l|-2 in. long, narrow oblong, in fruit very slender, 

 hairy. 



Medicinal Properties and Uses : — The leaves of the fresh 

 stems, if bruised and applied to the skin, cause vesication. 

 They abound in an acrid poisonous principle. Watt. ii. 369. 



4. Anemone obbusiloba, Don. h.f.br.l, I. 8. 



Syn. Anemone discolor, Royle. 



Vera. : — Rattanjog, Padar (Pb.). Kakriya (Kumaon). 



Habitat : — Temperate and Alpine Himalaya, from Kashmir 

 to Sikkim ; altitude 9-15,000 ft. 



A perennial herb, densely tufted, glabrate, or softly hairy. 



Rootstock woody, fibrous, clothed with old root-sheaths. 

 Radical leaves, many stalked, suborbicular, deeply cordate ; 

 Segments broad, cuneate, variously cut and lobed, rarely shortly 

 petiolate. Scapes 6-12 in., 1-3 — flowered ; invol. leaves 3-fid. 

 Flowers white purplish or golden ; pedicels long, slender. 

 Sepals silky outside, generally lead-coloured near the claw. 

 Achenes strigose, rarely glabrous. Very variable in size, hairi- 

 ness and colour of flower. 



Parts used : — The root and seeds. 



Medicinal Properties and Uses : — In Hazara the pounded root, 

 which is acrid, is mixed with milk and given internally for 

 contusions. In Bessahir it is said to be used as a blister, but 

 to be apt to produce sores and scars (Stewart). The seeds, if 

 given internally, produce vomiting and purging. The oil ex- 

 tracted from them is used in rheumatism. (Watt). 



Anemonui is found in this plant. — It occurs in many of the Ranunciilacece ; 

 ifc is a toxic substance, and produces paralysis of the central nervous system. 

 The compound lias the formula C 15 H 12 O -, and is deposited in rhombic 

 crystals melting at 152°. Io is volatile with steam, and, on exposure to air at 

 ordinary temperatures, is slowly.converted into aneiLonic acid ; the oxidation 



