1222 INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



1209. P. eiliata, Wall, h.f.b.i., v. 638. 



Vern. : — Bangikat (Nepal); Sungribond (Lepcha) ; Garpipal 

 (Kumaun) ; Chelun (Simla) ; Safeda, bagnu, asan, pahari pi pal 

 (Pb.) ; Palach (Pb.) ; Shodar (Pushtu); Piplas (corruption of 

 Poplar), Biaon, Sharphara, Tilaunja, Kapasil (Jamsar.) 



Habitat : — Temperate Himalaya, from Kashmir to Bhotan. 



A large, deciduous tree. Bark greenish-grey, smooth when 

 young, brown, with deep vertical fissures when old. Wood 

 grey or brownish-grey, soft. Buds viscid, lanceolate, the yellow 

 resinous gum sometimes secreted in large masses. Leaves 

 ovate-lanceolate, broad-ovate, as a rule finely ciliate along the 

 edge, pale and often minutely pubescent beneath, denticulate, 

 usually cordate, 3-6in. by 2J-4§in., 3-5-nerved ; lateral nerves 

 4-6 pairs above the basal, irregularly forked. Petiole 2-5in. 

 long, compressed above. Flowers before the leaves or with 

 young leaves in lateral catkins, raceme-like and drooping. 

 Male catkins 2-4in. long, somewhat interrupted ; Perianth 

 bell-shaped. Margins undulate. Stamens numerous, filaments 

 free, short, slender ; bract fringed, early caducous, fin. long. 

 Female catkins 6-12in. long, lax in fruit. Pedicels as 

 long as flowers. Ovary conical ; ovules along the centre of 

 the valves. Stigmas 3-4, nearly sessile, spreading, 2 lobed, 

 disk toothed. Capsule |-iin. long, ovoid, 3-4-valved, glabrous ; 

 seeds numerous. Stipes and hairs of the seeds as loog as 

 the capsules. The female tree is common ; the male is very 

 scarce. 



Use: — The bark is occasionally used as a tonic stimulant 

 and purifier of the blood. (Atkinson.) 



1210. P. euphratica, Oliv., h.f.b.l, v. 638. 



Vern. : — Sufaida ; Bahan (Sind) Padar (Baluch) ; Patki 

 (Brhui); Hodung (Ladak) ; Sufaida; Junglee bentee (Pb.) ; 

 Bahan (Pushtu) ; Pada, padak (Afg.). 



Habitat : — Common in the forest belt of Sindh along the 

 Indus " Where subject to inundation, the lower part of the 

 trunk often gets covered with short horn-like roots and shoots, 

 hard spine-like processes are found projecting from the wood 



