592 INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



dropped on cotton, and applied to a fresh wound, it is consi- 

 dered as a vulnerary, little inferior to the balsam of Mecca 

 (Ainslie). 



538. M. dioica, Roxb h.b.f.l, ii. 617 ; 'Roxb. 

 696. 



Vern. : — Dhar karela ; Kirara (Pb.) ; Karantoli (Bomb.) 

 Pallopaghel-kalung (Tarn.) ; Agakara (Tel.) ; Erimapasel (Mai.) ; 

 Ghosal-phul (U. P.). 



Habitat : — Throughout India : cultivated in Bengal ; com- 

 mon in low country, Ceylon. Lower Bengal, form of fruit large 

 succulent. Dekkan : fruit smaller. Fruit from the Panjab, 

 smaller and said to be bitter. 



Perennial climbing herbs, with tuberous roots. Tendrils 

 simple. Stems somewhat compressed and 2-edged, striate, 

 glabrous and shining ; leaves variable, 2-4in., broadly ovate 

 in outline, very cordate at base, acute, more or less deeply cut, 

 into 3 or 5 lobes, distantly dentate or denticulate, thin, quite 

 glabrous and shining on both sides, minutely punctate beneath ; 

 petiole 1-1 Jin., pubescent, chanelled above. Flowers dioecious, 

 solitary, peduncle about 2in., slender, glabrous, or finely pubes- 

 cent ; in the male, with a large hooded bract a little below the 

 flower and enclosing it ; in the female, with a minute bract 

 below the middle. Calyx-segments distant, linear ; petals 

 J-lin., lanceolate, acuminate, slightly pubescent. Female flower : 

 ovary densely covered with long soft papillae, stigmas bifid, with 

 erect torus. Fruit about 2in. long, oblong-ovoid, beaked, 

 glabrous, evenly covered with equal-pointed papillae. Seeds 

 J-lin., broadly oblong, compressed, rarely smooth ; pulpy 

 covering red. Fruit by some said to be bitter ; that of cultivated 

 plants edible, not bitter, or slightly so, if at all, used as vege- 

 table. Flower pale, lemon-yellow. 



Use. — The plant mixed with cocoanut, pepper, red sandal, 

 and other ingredients, applied in the form of liniment, relieves 

 headache. (Rheede.) 



The mucilaginous tasted root is used by the Hindus to stop 

 bleeding from piles, and also in bowel complaints (Ainslie). 



