494 INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



Habitat : — Punjab, Sincl, Rajputana, Guzerat, Bundelkhand 

 and the Deccan. 



A moderate-sized, thorny tree, with slender grey branches. 

 Bark f-lin. thick, grey, rough, with deep longitudinal .fissures 

 and horizontal cracks. Wood very hard. Sapwood large, 

 whitish, perishable ; heart- wood purplish-brown. Branches and 

 branchlets armed with scattered, broad-based, i-Jin. long, coni- 

 cal prickles. Leaves bipinnate, pinnae and leaflets opposite, 

 pinnae 2, l-2in. long ; leaflets 7-12 pair, sessile, J-Jin., ligulate, 

 grey, glabrous, rigidly coriaceous, caducous. Flowers in short, 

 pedicelled, axillary spikes, 2-3in. long and terminal panicles. 

 Corolla y^in. long. Stamens 10, free, exserted, anthers gland- 

 tipped. Pod coriaceous, indehiscent, pendulous, linear, 5-10in. 

 long, filled with a dry sweetish pulp, contracted between 

 seeds. Seeds 10-15, dull, brown, oblong. 



Use : — The pod is considered astringent in the Punjab 

 (Stewart). 



The bark is used in the Central Provinces as a remedy for 

 rheumatism (Watt). 



441. Dichrostaehys cinerea, W. and A. h.f.b.i., 

 ii. 288. 



Syn. : — Mimosa cinerea ; Linn. Roxb. 422. 



Sans. : — Viravriksha. 



Vern. : — Vurtuli (H.); Kanlai, kunrat, kheri (Mhairwara); 

 Khen (Raj.) ; Segum kati (Mar. and Gond.) ; Vadatalla, vadatara 

 (Tarn.) ; Veturu, yeltu (Tel.). 



Habitat : — N. W. Provinces ; Western Peninsula. 



A thorny, much-branched shrub or small tree. Bark grey 

 or light brown, very thin, deeply fissured vertically, peeling 

 off in thin flakes. Hear-twood red, streaked with black, extremely 

 hard (Gamble). Spines axillary, strong, straight, sharp, 

 often bearing leaves. Leaves bipinnate, li-2Jin. long. Stipules 

 subulate from a narrow base, pinnae 4-10 pair, with stipitate 



