480 INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



long ; petiole §-lJin. Flowers small, numerous, fasciculate or 

 inbracteate racemes, inflorescence in bud, enclosed in imbricate 

 deciduous scales. Calyx-tube very short, segments 4 or 5, 

 oblong. Petals 5, equal, stamens 10, rarely indefinite, anthers 

 versatile. Ovary with 2 ovules. Pod turgid, very' rugose, 

 indehiscent, subsessile, with thick valves, J-lin. long, seed 

 generally 1, exalbuminous, filling the cavity of the tree pod, 



Use : — The root is purgative. A lotion is made from the 

 leaves boiled in cow's milk, which, mixed with honey, is applied 

 externally in scabies, leprosy and other cutaneous diseases. 

 An oil is also prepared from the seeds and used for the same 

 purpose (Rheede). 



428 Hardwiekia pinnata, Roxb. h.f.b.l, ii. 270 



Roxb. 378. 



Vera. : — Matayen Samprani (Travancore; ; Kolavu (Tinnev- 

 elly) ; Genue (Manjarabad). 



Habitat : — The ghats of Kanara, Travancore and Carnatic. 



A very large, unarmed tree. Wood moderately hard ; sap- 

 wood large ; heartwood dark-red. or reddish-brown, exuding a 

 red, sticky resin. Leaves, abruptly pinnate, with few leaflets. 

 Leaflets 4-6, alternate, petiolate, not oblique, oblong, rigidly 

 coriaceous, acute, 2-4in. long, venulose, the upper of the up- 

 permost pair sometimes apparently terminal ; midrib central 

 veining pinnate ; petiolules l/6-l/4in. Panicles copious, axil- 

 lary and terminal; formed of dense slender, cylindric racemes ; 

 pedicels spreading, 1/24-1/1 2in. Calyx broadly campanulate, 

 under l/12in long, whith a pair of minute adpressed bractio- 

 les. Filaments twice as long as the sepals. Stigma minute. 

 Pod turgid, l x -2in. long, obovoid or oblong, nearly or quite 

 filled up by the seed, sublignose, rigid. 



Use : — The balsam of Hardwiekia has been used in India 



for gonorrhoea and with as much success as copaiba .Watt). — 



The oleoresin of Hardicickia pinnata was steam distilled and 34 per cent, 

 by weight of oil was obtained. The oil was very thick and its specific gravity 



