948 INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



mottled with, dark streaks, very hard, seasons and polishes 

 well (Gamble). Young shoots covered with viscid pubescence. 

 Leaves imparipinnate. Leaflets 3-5 pair, elliptic, shortly 

 acuminate, often serrulate, blade 3-6in. lung, rough on the 

 upper, pubescent on the under side ; petiole short. Flowers 

 exquisitely fragrant, in lax trichotomous viscid panicles, dull 

 crimson (Brandis), dull purple (Trimen), which latter is more 

 like the colour of the flowers seen by me in Ratnagiri and Thana 

 (K. R. K.). Corolla 1-1 Jin. long, pubescent funnel-shaped, limb 

 oblique, the 3 inferior lobes longer and the edges of all much 

 curled. Capsule straight, cylindric, 12-24 by fin., dark-grey or 

 purple ; slightly ribbed, rough, with elevated specks ; valves 

 thick, hard, woody. Seeds 1} by |in., deeply notched at the 

 middle, subtrigonous, embedded in the notches of the septum. 

 (Brandis. C. B. Clarke). 



Uses : — " The flowers rubbed up with honey are given to 

 check hiccup. The root bark is an ingredient in dasaiwdla. It 

 is regarded as cooling, diuretic and tonic, and is generally 

 used in combination with other medicines. The ashes of the 

 plant are used in the preparation of alkaline water and caustic 

 pastes" (U. C. Dutt.) 



In Tanjore the flowers are taken in the form of a confection 

 as an aphrodisiac. (P. S. Mootooswamy). 



907. S. Xyloearpum, Wight, h.f.b.i., iv. 383. 



Syn. : — Bignonia xylocarpa, Roxb. 494. 



Vern. : — Ghan-seng (Can.) ; Khar-sing (Mar.) ; Vaden kurni 

 mar am (Tarn.) 



Habitat: — Common in the Deccan Peninsula, extending 

 North to the Satpura Range. 



A deciduous tree, middle-sized, 30-60ft.; innovations pubes- 

 cent. Bark jin. thick, lightly grey. Sapwood large, grey, heart- 

 wood very hard, orange-brown. Annual rings well marked by an 

 irregular belt of numerous pores (Gamble). Leaves 2-pinnate 

 or 3-pinnate, l-4ft. long. Leaflets 3 by l^in., subsessile, elliptic, 

 acute, entire, mature glabrous, " hard and slightly rough when 

 full grown," says Brandis. Flowers fragrant, white with a tinge 

 of yellow, in dense, compound, pubescent, erect, somewhat rigid 



