880 INDIAN MEDICINAL fLAttTS. 



■-- Stems long, slender, twining, hairy or nearly glabrous, -of ten 

 tinged with purple. Leaves l-2|in., ovate-cordate, acute, entire, 

 nearly glabrous. Petiole l-3in., peduncles long, laxly 3- fid, 

 l-3in., often 1 -flowered, rarely with 3-flowers. Bracts |in., 

 lanceolate, sub-persistent ; pedicels J-lJin. ; sepals ovate, sub- 

 acute, nearly glabrous, fin., ultimately broader obtuse, reflexed. 

 Corolla f-lin., ochroleucous or white, with the plaits yellowish, 

 always with a purple base ; tube narrow, mouth wide, glabrous. 

 Anthers never twisted. Capsule £-fin., ovoid, subacute, glabrous, 

 2-.valved, 2-seeded, normally 4-seeded. Seeds densely softly 

 brown, Velvety. 



Uses :— The leaves have a pleasant smell and mucilaginous 

 taste ; when toasted, powdered and boiled with ghi they are 

 considered as a valuable application in aphthous affections 

 (Ainslie.) 



843. I. Sepiaria Koen. h.f.b.l, iv. 209 Roxb. 168. 



Habitat :— Throughout India. 



A perennial herb, glabrous or more or less hairy, Stems 

 slender, twining. Leaves 1-3 in. long, ovate, acute, entire, base 

 cordate, with a wide sinus and rounded lobes, petioles 1-2 iii. 

 long. Flowers many, in umbelliform long-peduncled cymes, 

 peduncles 1-6 in. long; bracts small, caducous, pedicels clavate 

 in fruit. Sepals about \ in. long, ovate, glabrous or slightly 

 hairy, margins membranous, 2 outer rather shorter than the 

 inner. Corolla narrowly funnel-shaped, pink or white with a 

 purplish centre, about \\ in. long, or more, limb suddenly 

 widened at the mouth ; lobes acute, shortly apiculate. Fila- 

 ments hairy at the base. Capsule \ in. long, ovoid, glabrous. 

 Seeds 4 or 2, clothed with grey silky hairs (Duthie). 



Uses : — It has a reputation as an antidote to arsenic, the 

 juice which is strongly acid, is said by Rheede to be used " ad 

 purificatio7ium corporis" 



844. 7. aquatica, Forsk. -h.f.b.l, iv. 210; Roxb. 162. 



Sans, : — Kalambi. 



Vern, :— Kalmi-sak (B); Kalmi-sag, Nari_(JSL-W, P.) ; 



