1 110 INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



A glabrous shrub. Leaves l-ljin., sub-opposite, oblong, 

 thinly coriaceous, oblong or obovate-oblong, tip rounded, base 

 caneate ; brown when dry ; nerves numerous, very slender. 

 Flowers few, in terminal subsessile fascicles. Perianth Jin. long, 

 glabrous, greenish-yellow. Disk-scales usually united in pairs. 

 Fruit Jin. long, ovoid, scarlet. 



Uses : — In his Madagascar drugs, in Ph. J., 12th Aug., 1882., 

 Mr. E. M. Holmes writes under Hazomafanu : " The pounded 

 bark given in doses of 1 dram, mixed with salt and ginger, as 

 a purgative. It probably possesses similar properties to Daphne 

 Mezereun, and would be worthy of a trial as a substitute for it 

 in the native materia medica." There is no record of the use 

 of this drug in any part of India. 



1099. Lasiosiphon erioeephalusl, Dene., h.f.b.l, 

 v. 197. 



Vern. :— Rametha (M.) ; Rami (Kan.); Naha (Sing.). 



Habitat : — Deccan Peninsula ; on the Ghats from the Con- 

 can southwards, ascending to 7,000 ft. on the Nilghiris. 



A large bhrub or small tree. Bark grey, rather smooth, 

 inner bark fibrous. Wood white or yellowish- white, hard, 

 much-branched. Branchlets usually purplish. Leaves 2-3 by 

 -f-lin., sub-sessile, lanceolate-oblong, opposite or scattered, not 

 coriaceous ; nerves very slender and oblique. Flowers thickly 

 clothed with white or bluff, long, silky, villous hairs, in dense 

 globose heads, l-2in. diam., supported by silky, involucral 

 bracts, shorter than flowers. Perianth J-fin. long, yellow ; 

 tube slender ; lobes 4-5, oblong, obtuse ; scales at its mouth 

 very variable, alternating with the lobes, oblong or cordate, or 

 bi-fid. Fruit dry, included in the lower persistent of the 

 perianth (hollow receptacle). 



Uses: — A powerful vesicant, but very uncertain in its action. 

 A tooth-brush, made of the young branch, is said to cause fall- 

 ing out of the teeth (Sakharam Arjun). The bark is used to 

 poison fish. In the Deccan the leaves are applied to contusions, 

 swellings, etc. (B. D. Basu.) 



