474 INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



ulate, caducous. Flowers usually in nearly sessile pairs in the 

 axils of the leaves, of the upper very crowded. Corolla small, 

 bright or orange-yellow: Sepals concave. Stamens sub-equal. 

 Pods |-fft. by i in. ; membranous, slender, sub-tetragonous, 

 the sutures very broad. Seeds uniseriate, flattened in the 

 same direction as the pod, truncately cylindrical, about sin. 

 long ; length parallel to the suture. 



Parts used : — The leaves and seeds. 



Uses : — In Hindu medicine it has a great reputation in all 

 kinds of skin . diseases. Chakradatta recommends the seeds 

 together with those of Pongarnia glabra as a cure for ring-worm. 



Mohamedan writers notice the closing of the leaves at night. 

 They consider the seeds and leaves to have solvent properties 

 in those forms of skin disease accompanied by induration, e.g., 

 leprosy, cheloid, psoriasis, &c. fDymock 1 . 



The leaves are gently aperient ; fried in castor oil, they are 

 considered a good application to foul ulcers. The seeds ground 

 with sour butter-milk are used to ease the irritation of itchy 

 eruptions ; and the root, rubbed on a stone with lime juice, is 

 supposed to be one of the best remedies for ring-worm. The 

 leaves are also used as a poultice to hasten suppuration ( Ainslie). 

 A warm remedy in gout, sciatica and pains in the joints (B. 

 Powell) 



The medicinal properties are due to the presence of chryso- 

 phanic acid. (Vide a paper by Mr. Elborne on the analysis of 

 the seeds in Ph. J., 22 Sept. 1888, p. 242). 



421. 0, auriculata, Linn, h.f.b.l, ii. 263. 



Syn. : — Senna auriculata, Roxb. 354. 



Eng. : — The Tanner's Cassia. 



Vern.\ — Tarwar, tarver (BL & B.) ; Tarota (Berar) ; 

 Taravada (Mar.); Awal, aval (Guz. I ; Awla (Cutch); Avari, 

 ammera-verai, avirai (Tarn.) ; Tangedu, thagedu, tangar (Tel.); 

 Avareke, tengedu, tangadi-gida, avara-gida, taravadagicla (Kau.) ; 

 Avara, ponnaviram (Mai.). 



Habitat : — Wild in the Central Provinces, the Western 

 Peninsula and South India. 



