112 INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



peduncle longer than leaf, slightly hairy ; bracts setaceous. 

 Sepals lanceolate, very acute. Petals oblong spreading ; spur 

 not inflated (Trimen) ; saccate, say Hooker f, and Th. Stigma 

 oblique. Capsule \ in. long, globose or subglobose, pubescent, 

 valve dehiscing irregularly. Seeds few. 



Use: — This species also yields Banafsha of the Bazaars, 

 and is considered to have medicinal properties similar to those 

 of V. odorata. In the Punjab, a medicinal oil is prepared from 

 it, called raughan-i-banafsha. 



100. V. odorata, Linn, h.f.b.i., i. 184. 



Vem. : — Banafsha(H.; Dec; Bom.; Guz.) ; Banosa (Beng.); 

 Vayilethe (Tarn.) 



Habitat : — Kashmir. 



A glabrato or pubescent herb. Root-stock stout. Stem 

 very short or 0. Stolons slender. Leaves tufted, in the 

 Kashmir plant, J-l in. diam., broadly ovate-cordate, obtuse, 

 crenate, tip rounded, nearly glabrous. Stipules entire or tooth- 

 ed, subulate, lanceolate. Sepals rounded at tip, very obtuse, 

 spur nearly straight, short, cyiindric, style inflated above ; 

 stigma decurved. 



Parts used: — The flowers used dry. 



Uses : — By the Mahomedan hakims, it is generally consi- 

 dered cold and moist, and is especially valued as a diuretic and 

 expectorant, and as a purgative in bilious affections. 



O'Shaughnessy experimented with the dry plant as a 

 substitute for Ipecacuanha, but without success. 



Moodeen Sheriff considers it antipyretic and diaphoretic, 

 and very useful in relieving febrile symptoms and excitement 

 in all forms of fever, particularly in combination with other 

 drugs of the same class. 



A certain amount of interest is attached to the leaves of 

 the violet on account of an apparent improvement following the 

 employment of the fresh infusion of the leaves in a case (L. '05, 

 i. 713) in which it was alleged that a patient might have been 

 suffering from malignant disease. A handful of the leaves was 



