1176 INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



membranous, deeply 2-lipped ; segments concave, rounded. 

 Stamens 2 ; filaments very short, free. Anthers scarlet. Female 

 flowers solitary, shortly stalked ; spike thickened in fruit. 

 Sepals 2-3, ovate, long-pointed ; ovary globose, 3-celled. Styles 

 3, free, short, recurved. Capsule Jin. long, obscurely 3-lobed, 

 fleshy when young. Seeds 3. 



Use :— The whole tree is full of an acrid milk which, when 

 applied to the skin, produces vesication. (Lis boa.) 



1163. ExGoecaria Agallocha, Linn., h.f.b.l, v. 

 472 ; Roxb. 713. 



Vern. : — Gangwa, geor, uguru, geria (B. ) ; Guna (Uriya ; 

 Geva(Bom.); Chilla, tella-chettu (Tel.) ; Haro (Kan.). 



Habitat : — Tidal forests on all the coasts of India. 



An evergreen, small tree. Bark grey, smooth, shining, with 

 numerous, round, prominent lenticels. Wood very soft, spongy. 

 Branchlets rather thick, marked with leaf scars, smooth. Leaves 

 2|-3Jin., alternate, oval, acute at base, shortly obtusely accumi- 

 nate, obtuse, entire or obscurely crenate, rather thick ; veins 

 except midrib very inconspicuous. Petiole f-lin., slender. 

 Spikes androgynous ; male flowers at the base of spikes. 

 Filaments much lengthening after flowering. Styles free, nearly 

 to the base. Male flowers : — sepals minute, unequal, sub-serrulate. 

 Capsule fin. diam., i-^in. diam., very variable. (Trimen). Seeds 

 glabrous, smooth. Flowers yellow, fragrant. Grows occasionally 

 to 5ft. in girth and 40ft. in height. 



Uses : — The milky juice, which exudes from the bark of this 

 tree when green and fresh, is very acrid and injurious to the 

 eyes, hence it is called " the blinding tree of India." 



A decoction of the leaves is occasionally given by Hindu 

 doctors in epilepsy, in the quantity of a quarter of a teacupful 

 twice daily. This decoction is also used as an application to 

 ulcers. (Ainslie.) 



From the lower part of the trunk and roots, a soft, light, 

 reddish suber is obtained, which is sold by the itinerant medi- 

 cine men of Western India, under the name of Tejbal, as an 

 aphrodisiacal tonic. (Pharmacogr. Ind. III. 315.) 



