236 INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



chatorn arak (Santal.) ; chengeri tenga (Assam) ; Pullainpurachi 

 sappu (Kan) ; Poli yarala (Mai.;. 



Eng : — The Indian sorrel. 



Habitat : — Throughout the warmer parts of India. 



An annual or biennial appressed-pubescent, diffuse herb 

 of very variable size and habit. Stems branched, procumbent, 

 without runners. Leaves long-petioled, all cauline, 3-foliate. 

 Leaflets obcordate. Stipules adnate to the petiole. Peduncles 

 axillary ; petals yellow, notched. Flowers sub umbel late, f-in. 

 cliam. Sepals obtuse, bracts setaceous. Fruiting pedicels 

 depressed. Capsules tomentose. subcylindric. Cells many- 

 seeded. Seeds transversly ribbed, 



Part used : — The whole plant. 



Uses : — The leaves are considered by the Sanskrit writers, as 

 cooling, refrigerant and stomachic. The fresh j nice expressed 

 from them is said to relieve intoxication from Datura ; and 

 said to be useful in dysentery and prolapsus of the rectum. 

 (Dutt.) 



An infusion of the small leaves is given as a cooling medicine 

 in fevers (Honingberger >. It is used externally to remove warts 

 and opacities of the cornea. (B. Powell. ) 



The fresh leaves made into a curry are said to improve the 

 appetite and digestion of dyspeptic patients. Bruised with or 

 without water, they are formed into a poultice and applied over 

 inflamed parts, by which means, great cold is produced, and 

 pain and other symptoms are relieved. Prepared with hot water, 

 the leaves make a very efficient poultice for boils. The leaves 

 are refrigerant and anti-scorbutic. (Moodeen Sheriff.) 



In the Concan the plant is rubbed down with water, boiled 

 and the jnice of white onions added ; this mixture is applied fco 

 the head in bilious headache. (Dymock.) 



214. 0. acetosella, Linn, h.f.b.i., i. 436. 



( Sinhalese) Hin-Embul-Sinhiliya. 



Habitat: — Temperate Himalaya, from Kashmir to Sikkim. 

 One of the commonest weeds throughout Ceylon, 



