184 INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



167. //. esculentus, Linn., h.f.b.l, i. 343. 

 Roxb. 529. 



8yn. :— H. longifolius, Eoxb. Fl. Ind. III. 210. Abelmoschus 



esculentus, W. and A. 



English name: — Lady's finger. 



Sans. : — Tindisa ; Gandha-mula. 



Arab, and Vers. : — Bamiya. 



Vern. : — Bhindi ram-turai (H.) ; Dhenras, ram-torai (B.); 

 Bhenda (Bom.) ; Bhindu Guz.) ; Bhendi (Dek.) ; Vendaik-kay, 

 vendi (Tarn.); Pencla, benda-kaya (Tel.). 



Habitat : —Cultivated throughout India. 



A cultivated, annual, tall herb, with rough hairs. Leaves 

 coarsely toothed ; petiole 6 in., more or less bristly. Stipules 

 subulate. Peduncles about 1 in. Bracteoles 1 in., linear-subulate. 

 Flowers yellow with a crimson centre. Staminal-tube antheri- 

 ferous throughout. Fruit 6-10 by lin., pyramidal-oblong, 

 glabrescent, cells 5-8-seeded. Seeds striate, hairy. 



Parts used :— The fruit, seeds and capsule. 



Use : — The Mahomedan writers describe it as cold and 

 moist, and beneficial to people of a hot temperament (Dymockl 



Roxburgh recommends it in irritating cough. The 

 mucilage from the fruits and seeds is useful in gonorrohoea and 

 irritation of the genitourinary system. In the Indian Pharma- 

 copoeia, the immature capsules are officinal for the preparation of 

 a decoction, to be used as an emollient, demulcent and diuretic 

 in catarrhal affections, ardor urinse, dysuria and gonorrhoea. 



168. H. tiliaceus, Linn., h.f.b.l, i. 343. 

 Roxb. 522. 



Syn. : — Paritium tiliaceum, W. and A. ; Hibiscus tiliaceus, 

 Linn. 



Vern. : — Bola, chelwa (B.) ; Bania or baria (Orissa) ; Bel- 

 pata (Bomb.). (Sinhalese) Beli-patta. 



Habitat : — Coasts of both Peninsulas and Bengal. 



