1220 INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



1206. 8. alba, Linn., h.f.b.l, v. 629. 



Vern. : — Vivir (Kashmir) ; Bis, yur, cbangma, malchang, 

 chamma, kalchan, chung, bushan, madanu (Pb.) ; Bed-i-siah 

 (Afg.); Kharwala (Trans-Indus). 



Habitat : — Cultivated in the North- West Himalaya and 

 Western Tibet. 



A large, deciduous tree. Bark light-brown ; wood white, pink 

 or light-brown, soft, even-grained. Attains a height of 80ft.; 

 flowering after leafing. Branchlets olive, green, yellow, red or 

 purple. Leaves 2-4in., dull-green above, young silky on both 

 surfaces, old glabrous, often glaucous beneath, narrow, lanceo- 

 late, acuminate, glandular-denticulate. Stipules silky, i-fin., 

 falcately ovate or lanceolate, deciduous ; petioles eglandular, 

 T V£in. Catkins on leafy peduncles. Male cylindric, l-ljin., 

 dense- fid, drooping ; bracts oblong, cilia te ; stamens 2, free. 

 Female 2-3im, lax-fid ; bracts yellow or brown, ciliate. Dish 

 scales 2. Capsules with narrowed tips, sub-sessile, ovoid, 

 glabrous or pubescent ; style very short ; stigmas 2-fld. 



Uses : — The bark yields salicin, a drug largely used in the 

 treatment of acute rheumatism. It is recognised as antiseptic, 

 antipyretic and antiperiodic. 



1207. 8. babylonica, Linn., h.f.b.l, v. 629 ; 

 Roxk 712. 



Vern. : — Tissi, bhosi (Nepal); Giur (Kashmir) ; Bisa, bada 

 katira, bidai, bitsu bes, besu, wala, majnun, laila, bed maju 

 (Pb.). 



Habitat : — Cultivated in the plains of India, and the 

 Himalaya aud elsewhere in gardens, etc. 



A deciduous tree, with pendent branches, 50ft. Trunk 12ft., 

 in girth flowering and leafing together ; males much commoner 

 than females. Branchlets glabrous, shining. Buds thin, acute. 

 Bark grey, £-iin. thick. W x ood soft, porous, even-grained. 

 Leaves 3-6 by ^in.; midrib prominent, linear-lanceolate, acumi- 

 nate, serrulate, glabrous or sparsely hairy; stipules falcate, serrate. 

 Catkins very slender on leafy peduncles ; males short, cylindric, 



