N. 0. COMPOSITE. 685 



A large, annual herb, 2-4ft. (Trimen), l-3ft, (J. D. Hooker), 

 6-7ft. (Kanjilal), common on damp fallow lands. Stem stiff, 

 erect, with spreading opposite horizontal branches below, and 

 dichotomously branched above, finely pubescent purple. Leaves 

 opposite, l-5in. long and broad, oval-triangular or short petioles, 

 shortly tapering at base, acuminate, acute, deeply and irregu- 

 larly laciniate serrate, densely and finely pubescent on both 

 sides, pale, yellowish-green, the uppermost much smaller and 

 nearly entire. Heads Jin. in diam. small, pedunculate, yellow, 

 subglobose, solitary in the forks of very large lax dichotomous 

 corymbose inflorescence. Involucre-bracts very dissimilar, five 

 outer over Jin., linear spathulate or club-shaped at end, 

 horizontally spreading, with recurved margins, upper surface 

 set with numerous large, extremely viscous, glandular on back. 

 Ray flower red beneath, very short, recurved, 3-toothed. Achenes 

 each enclosed in a boat-shaped bractler, glabrous, slightly 

 rough (Trimen) ; curved, quadrangular, black (Kanjilal/. 



Uses : — " It has a high reputation as a valuable depurative, 

 and also for its healing properties in gangrenous ulcers and 

 sores. It is strongly recommended in diseases of urethra. ** 

 Dr. Daruty, of Mauritius, writes me that he prescribes it with 

 very good results in the from of an aqueous extract, in syrup 

 and sometimes combined with iodide of potassium, in cases 

 where a powerful alterative, sudorific, and anti-syphilitic is re- 

 quired. He believed it to much more powerful than Sarsa- 

 parilla " (Christy's 'New Commercial Plants and Drugs' No. IX., 

 p. 49, ' 1886;. 



Externally, a mixture of equal parts of the tincture and 

 glycerine has been tried in Europe with good effect in ringworm 

 and similar parasitic eruptions. Antiseptic properties have 

 been ascribed to the fresh plant, applied to unhealthy ulcers. 



648. Enhydra fluetuans, Lour, h.f.b.i., hi. 304. 



Syn. '•— Hingtsha repens, Roxb. 609. 



Sans. : — Hilamochika. 



Vern. :— Harhuch (H.) ; Hingcha(B.) 



Habitat : — Eastern Bengal, Assam and Silhet. 



