822 INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



oblongovate, cordate at base, with rounded lobes, suddenly acute 

 at apex, glabrous above, pubescent on veins beneath, rather 

 thick ; venation reticulate, glabrous ; bracts minute. Sepals 

 oval, obtuse, glabrous. Follicles (one generally suppressed ?) 

 (K. R. K.), 5-6in., fusiform, oblong, blunt, cylindric, with a deep 

 furrow along each side, fleshy (Trimen). 



" Flowers red-purple and white, subglobose. " Corolla 

 l-ljin. diam., lobes subacute, incurved, white on back and 

 margin. 



Uses : — In the Concan, the roots are used as a remedy for 

 scalding in gonorrhoea, and, beaten into a paste, are applied to 

 the eyes in ophthalmia. In diabetes, the root rubbed to a paste 

 is given in cold milk. In spermatorrhoea, the dried root, with 

 an equal quantity of the root of Eriodendron anfractuosum, 

 powdered, is given in 6 massa doses, with milk and sugar, 

 twice daily (Dymock). 



Rheede first drew attention to the medicinal virtues of the 

 root, mentioning its value as an application for ophthalmia. 



It is employed in decoction by the Santals, as a remedy for 

 cough, and also for orchitis (Revd. A. Campbell). 



778. Sarcostemmabrevistigina, W. & A. h.f.b.i., 

 iv. 26. 



Syn. : — Asclepias acida, Roxb. 251. 



Vern. :— Somalata (H. and B.) ; Soma (Bomb.); Tigatshu- 

 moodoo (Tel.) ; Thorinjal (Sind.) ; Ran slier (Mar.). 



Habitat : — Deccan Peninsula ; not uncommon in dry rocky 

 places. 



A trailing, leafless, jointed shrub. Stem as thick as a goose- 

 quill, green, joints 4-6in. long. Umbels sessile, terminal, 1-1 J 

 in. diam., many-fid. Pedicels ^in., puberulous. Flowers pale- 

 greenish white or whitish. Sepals small, ovate. Corolla |in. 

 diam., lobes ovate or oblong. Column very short ; corona and 

 column together rounded or obtuse ; inner processes of the 

 corona almost concealing the anthers. Stigma very shortly 



