N. 0. GENTIANACEjE. 345 



Habitat :— Throughout India, from Oudh and Bengal to 

 Ceylon. 



A small, slender herb. Stem slender, erect, much-branched, 

 quadrangular, 3-12in. Leaves lHin., subsessile, elliptic or 

 lanceolate, 3-nerved. Flowers, small, 4-merous. Cymes terminal 

 many-fid, Peduncles fjin., suberect, rigid. Calyx-lobes H in -> 

 ovate, acuminate ; wing distinct, lanceolate. Corolla-lobes blue, 

 Hi"- elliptic. Anthers i'm., scarcely attenuate upwards, dehis- 

 cing finally half-way to the base. Capsule iin. Sub-globose. 



jj ses : — The plant is less bitter than chiretta and more than 

 gentian, for which it may be substituted. Dr. Bidie directs the 

 plant to be gathered when the flowers begin to fade and to be 

 carefully dried in the shade. For administration, it may be 

 o-iven in infusion and tincture of the same strength as those of 

 chiretta (Ph. Ind.)- 



794 — Enicostema littorale, Blame, h.f.b.i., iv. 

 101 ; Boxb. 264. 



Habitat:— Throughout India, from the Punjab and Gange- 

 tic plain to Ceylon ; more frequent near the sea, not known in 

 Bengal. 



Verm — Chota kirayata (H.) ; Mamijwa (Bomb.); Manucha 

 (Sind) ; Kadavinayi (Mar.) ; Vellurugu(Tam. } ; Nela-guli ; Nela- 

 gulamidi (Tel.) ; Naichapiala (Bomb.). 



A perennial herb. Stems several, from a woody base, erect 

 or procumbent, 6-18in., sub-quadrangular or terete, glabrous, 

 iniernodes short. Leaves opposite 1-lfin., oblong-oval to oblong- 

 linear, sessile, tapering to base, obtuse, rather thick, 3-nerved, 

 the lateral nerves marginal and faint, pale glaucous green. 

 Flowers numerous, crowded, white. Calyx glabrous, segments 

 lanceolate, sub-acute. Corolla much longer than the Calyx ; 

 tube wide, iin., lobes much shorter than the tube, ^in., oval 

 acute, elliptic, says C. B. Clarke. Stamens, included. Capsule 

 about Jin., says Trimen ; i-g-in., says Clarke. Seeds small. The 

 root creeping, filiform. The whole plant is very bitter. 



Uses : — It possesses marked bitterness, and, according to Dr. 

 Cleghorn, it is much used by the natives of Madras as a 



