1134 



INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



1124. Buxus sempervii^ens, Linn., h.f.b.l, v. 267. 



Vern :■— Shan 3a laghuue (Afg.V; Cbikri (Kashmir) ; Papri, 

 papur, paprang, shamshad, shumaj (Pb.). 



Habitat : — Temperate Himalaya, from Kumaon to Simla 

 and Bhotan. Punjab on the Salt Range, etc. 



A small, evergreen shrub or tree. Bark grey, soft, corky, 

 cut into small plates by deep horizontal and vertical cracks. 

 Wood yellowish-white, hard, smooth, very close-and even- 

 grained. Branchlets and young leaves pubescent. Branchlets 

 4-sided. Leaves opposite, coriaceous, varying from lanceolate to 

 ovate, quite entire, l-3in. long, narrowed into a short petiole. 

 Flowers yellowish, monoecious, in dense, short, axillary spikes ; 

 smell unpleasant ; the terminal flowers usually female. Male 

 flowers : — Sepals 4, biseriate, imbricate ; stamens 4 free, opposite 

 to sepals, inserted round a 4-sided rudimentary ovary. Female 

 flowers : — Sepals 6, in two circles of 3 each ; ovary 3-celled, 3-cor- 

 nered ; top flat ; the corners terminating in thick, short styles. 

 Capsules coriaceous, 3-valved, each valve ending in 2 horns, 

 being the halves of 2 styles ; dissepiments attached to the valves. 

 (Brandis) ; seeds oblong, trigonous, with a black shining testa 

 and fleshy albumen. 



Uses : —The wood is diaphoretic ; leaves bitter, purgative 

 and diaphoretic, useful in rheumatism and syphilis. Said to 

 be poisonous to camels. A tincture from the bark is used as a 

 febrifuge (Stewart). 



1125. Bridelia retusa Spreng., hi b.i., v. 268. 



Syn. : — B. spinosa, Roxb. 706. 



Vern. : — Pathor, mark (Pb.) ; Khaja, kaj, kassi, gauli (H.) ; 

 Kharaka, kaka (Kol.) ; Kuj (Mongyr) ; Kadru pala (Santal) ; 

 Gaya (Dehra Dun) ; Gauli (Garhwal) ; Lamkana, augnera 

 (Rajputana); Geio (Nepal); Pengji (Lepcha) ; Kashi (Garo) ; 

 Kamkui (Chittagong) ; Kasi, kosi (Uriya) ; Mulluvengay, kamanji 

 (Tam.) ; Kormanu, pedda-avem, danki-bura, dudi maddi, kora 

 madi, (Tel.) ; Kassei (Gond.) ; Gunjan, kati am, asana (Bhil.) ; 

 Phatarphod, asana, asauna (Bom.) ; Sun (Duk.) ; Asuna, goje 

 (Kan.) ; Adamarathu (Tinnevelly). 



