96 INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



and other haemorrhages, as well as in dropsy," (U. S. Dispen- 

 satory,) 



84. Lepidium sativum, Linn, h.f.b.l, i. 159, 

 Sa7is. : — Chandrasura. 



Vern. ; — Halim (Kumaon; chausaur (H.) ; Assalia, Ahliva, 



Bomb.) ; AM verai (Tarn) ; Adit-yalu (Tel.; ; Halim, aleverie (B.) ; 



tezak (Pb.) ; Ahero (Sind.) ; Asalio halim (Guz.) ; Allibija. (Kan.;, 



Habitat : — Cultivated throughout India, 



An annual, erect, glabrous herb. Stems erect, 6-18 in., 

 branched. Radical leaves twice-pinnatisect, long-petioled. 

 Cauline sessile and usually entire, say Hooker. /. and T, 

 Anderson ; pinnatifid or lanceolate, says Sir Henry Collett, 

 Flowers small, white, in long racemes. Sepals erect, equal at 

 the base, Pods ovate, I in,, notched at the tip; margins 

 winged, wings narrow. Pods orbicular-ovate (H. /. and T). 

 Pedicels adpressed. Seeds one in each cell. Radicle in- 

 cumbent, cotyledons divided. 



Tn Simla fields ; flowers in April and May. 



It is the garden cress of Europe and Asia, 



Parts used : — The seed and leaves. 



Use: — According to the Sanskrit writers, the seeds are 

 described as tonic and alterative, efficacious in hiccup, diarrhoea 

 and skin diseases (U. C. Dutt). 



The Mahomedan writers consider the seeds to have aph- 

 rodisiac and diuretic properties ; they recommend them for the 

 dispersion of certain chronic enlargements of the spleen, &c, 

 and as an alterative in various diseased conditions supposed to 

 be produced by cold humors (Dymock). 



According to Honigberger. the plant in the Punjab was 

 administered in cases of asthma, cough with expectoration and 

 bleeding piles. The root is used in secondary syphilis and 

 tenesmus. 



According to Bellew, the seeds are also considered to be 

 galactagogue in the Punjab, and are administered after being 

 boiled with milk, to cause abortion. O'Shaughnessy found the 

 drug answer as a gentle and warm aperient. 



