N. 0. TLATANACEiE. 1207 



1193. Laportea erenu/ata, Gaud., ii.f.b.i., v. 

 550. 



Vern. : — Chorpatta ; Surat (B.) ; Utigun ka bij (Behar); 

 Moringi (Nepal) ; Sir-nat (Assam) ; Mealum-ma, sunkrong 

 (Lepcha). 



Habitat : — Tropical Himalaya, from Sikkim eastwards, 

 Assam, the Khasia Mts., and southwards to Perak ; the Concan. 



A large, evergreen shrub, 8-10ft., or a small tree. Wood very 

 soft, separating when dry into concentric, long, fibrous layers. 

 Cystolith cellls conspicuous in the epidermis. Branchlets, 

 petioles and inflorescence armed with stinging hairs of two 

 kinds, minute and long. Branches stout, terete, green. Leaves 

 9-10in. long, largest, 1G by 12in., ovate or elliptic, crenulate in 

 the upper part or nearly entire ; petiole l-4in. long, with a few 

 long hairs, otherwise glabrous, round, raised, cystolith cells 

 prominent on both surfaces. Stipules ovate, lanceolate. Flowers 

 minute, green, dioecious, in axillary, panicled cymes, longer than 

 petiole, dichotomously branched. Flower clusters remote, often 

 unilateral. Male perianth deeply 4-partite. Female sub- 

 campanulate ; lobes acute. Achenes oblique, Jin. diam., seated 

 on the cup-shaped perianth, and crowned by the style. This is 

 the worst of the stinging nettles of India, 'says Gamble. The 

 effects last for many days, says Brandis. 



Use : — In Patna, the seeds in doses of \ dram to Jounce, 

 are used in the same way as coriander. (Irvine.) 



N. 0. PLATANACEJE. 

 1194. Platanus orientalis, Linn., h.f.b.i., v. 

 594. 



Vern :-— Buin, biina, chanar (PbJ; Chintar, chinar (Pushtu). 



Habitat : — Cultivated in the N.-W Himalaya, from the Sutlej 

 westwards. 



A large, deciduous tree. Bark I in. thick, smooth, light or 

 dark-grey peeling off in thin scales. Wood white, hard, with 

 a faint tinge of yellow or red. Buds densely clothed with long 

 hairs. Branchlets and young leaves'with soft, deciduous, tawny 



