726 INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



698. Launea asplenifolia, DC. h.f.b.l, hi. 415 ; 

 Roxb. 594. 



Vera. : — Tik-chana (B.) ; Birrualla (Santali). 

 Habitat : — Plains of India, from the Punjab to Assam, and 

 southwards to the Sunderbuns, Circars, Andamans, &c. 



Biennial or perennial, glabrous herb, with juice yellow, 

 Leaves 3-6in., sessile or shortly petioled, narrowly obovate, 

 lobes minutely toothed. Radical leaves sinuate-lobed or pin- 

 natifid, cauline few. Flowering stems many from the root, 

 ascending almost naked, 6-18in., long ; branches dichotomous, 

 divaricating. Heads fin. terminal paniculate, peduncles brac- 

 teate. Bracts one or two, subulate. Involucre-bracts quite 

 glabrous, small ; inner linear, margins membranous. Achenes 

 not winged, minute j 2 'm., pale, very narrow. Pappus white soft, 

 |-in., diciduous, hairs about equal length, with no stronger inner 

 ones (J. D. Hooker). 



Use :— The root of this plant, along with that of uttri dudhi, 

 pounded and boiled in mustard oil, is given as a ]actagogue 

 by the Santals (Revd. A. Campbell). 



699. L. nudicaulis, Lees, h.f.b.l, hi. 416 ; 

 Roxb. 593, 



Vern. : — Batthal, dudhlak, tariza, spudukei (Pb.). 



Habitat :-— Throughout the plains of India. 



A glabrous, perennial herb, with yellow juice. Stems tufted, 

 usually decumbent, numerously branching, 6-24in. Roots 

 with yellow juice ; the stems are naked, or with a few small 

 leaves below the flower-clusters. Leaves 2-10 by l-3in., usually 

 sessile, sinuate lobed, pinnatifid or runcinate (J. D. Hooker); lobes 

 irregularly lobulate and sharply toothed, teeth often white and 

 cartilaginous. Flowering stems usually very numerous, 6-24in. 

 long, spreading on all sides, stout or slender, simple or branched. 

 Heads J-jin. long, clusters of 2-5 or about 10, rarely solitary, 

 forming much interrupted racemes, or crowded together at the 

 end of branches. Involucre-bracts overtopping the pappus. 

 Achenes much shorter than the pappus (Collett), ii 111 -? very 



