ti; 0. LEGUMIHOS^. ... 415 



360. Mundulea suberosa, Benth: h.f.b.i., ii. 101. 



Syn.\ — Robinia suberosa and R. Senuoides, Roxb. 568. 



Habitat : —Hill-valleys of the Western Peninsula and Ceylon. 



A stout, erect shrub, with thick corky bark. Branches, rachises, 

 pedicels and leaves beneath densely sericeous. Leaves odd- 

 pinnate. Leaflets 6-10-jugate, oblong, lanceolate, coriaceous, 

 l£-2in.. long. Flowers in close, terminal racemes. Pedicels 

 2-3 times the campanulate Calyx. Corolla 3/4-1 in. long, reddish, 

 thinly silvery. Pod 3-4in. long, densely sericeous, 6-8- seeded, 

 both sutures thickened, so as to form prominent borders. 



Uses : — The seeds are used in Southern and Western India 

 as a fish poison. They stupefy the fish, which are then readily 

 taken by the hand. 



The seeds and bark contain a greenish yellow resin, soluble 

 in carbon bisulphide, benzol, chloroform, amylic alcohol, ether, 

 hot alcohol, and partly in caustic alkalis, with a bright yellow 

 colour. 



The leaves contain, besides the resin, an organic acid and 

 9 per cent of ash [Pharmacographia Indica, Vol. I., p. 417]. 



361. Tephrosia purpurea, Pers. h.f.b.i., ii. 112. 



Syn. : — Galega purpurea, Roxb. 587. 



Sans. : — Sarapunkha. 



Vern. :— Sarphunka (H.) ; Ban-nil (Beng.) ; Bansa (Pb.) ; 

 Jangli-kulthi (Bomb.) ; Kolluk-kay-velai (Tarn.) ; Vempali (Tel.) 

 Jhila (Guz.) ; Hun, nali, jangli-kulthi (Dec.) ; Kozhin-nila (Mai.). 



Habitat : — From the Himalayas throughout India. 



A copiously-branched, sub-erect, herbacous perennial. Stem 

 glabrescent or finely downy, l-2ft high, slender, terete. Leaves 

 odd-pinnate, short-petioled, 3-6in. long. Stipules linear, subulate, 

 ascending or reflexed; leaflets 13-21, narrow, oblanceolate, obtuse, 

 green, glabrescent above, glaucous, obscurely silky below. 

 Racemes copious, all leaf-opposed, 3-6in. long, lax ; lower flowers 

 fascicled; pedicels l/8-l/4in., bracts minute. Calyx i-^in., closely 

 silky. Calyx teeth narrow, cuspidate, as long as the tube. Corolla 

 1/4-1/2 in., red, thinly silky. Pod l|-2 by 1/6 in., broad glabres- 



