N. 0. SOITAMINE.E. 1265 



Soogfindaraju gida, kelahii, hudingana (Kan.) ; Knllvalei-mani, 

 kunda-mani clieddi (Tarn.) ; Krishna-tamaraH, guri genza oliettn 

 (Tel.) ; Katuvara (Mai.). 



Encj. '• — Indian shot. 



Habitat : — Cultivated in gardens all over India as ornamental 

 and flowering plants. 



Root-stock stout, perennial, tuberous, with many fibres. Stem 

 3-4ft. Leaves 6-18 by 4-8in., lanceolate to ovate, oval or almost 

 orbicular, caudate-acuminate ; veins arching, sheath open above, 

 margins membranous. Lower leaf 1ft. or more. Raceme with 

 a pedicle 1ft. or more, erect ; peduncles with a long narrow 

 sheath about the middle ; bracts Ym. oblong, ovate, obtuse, 

 membranous, green. Flowers rather distant 2-2Jin. long. 

 Calyx segments i-fin., lanceolate or oblong, membranous, 

 obtuse. Corolla-segments lin., erect, narrow, oblanceolate, 

 acuminate, greenish or coloured. Staminal segments longer 

 than the corolla, 3 sub-erect, spathulate, 1 linear, revolute. 

 Fruit erect, \- lin. long, sub-globose or oblong, obscurely 3-lobed, 

 crowned with calyx segments, pericarp echinulate, black, thin ; 

 seeds very many, pea-sized, globose ; testa crustaceous, black, 

 shining. (Trimen and J. G. Baker.) 



Uses : -The root is used as a diaphoretic and diuretic in 

 fevers and dropsy (Atkinson), and also given as a demulcent. 

 (Irvine.) It is considered acrid and stimulant. (Fleming.) 

 When cattle have eaten any poisonous grass, which is generally 

 discovered by the swelling of the abdomen, the natives admin- 

 ister to them the stock of this plant, which they break up into 

 small pieces, boil in rice-water with pepper, and give the cattle 

 to drink. (Drury.) The seed is cordial and vulnerary. (Baden- 

 Powell.) 



1253. Musa sapientum, Linn., h.f.b.l, vi., 262. 

 Roxb. 222. 



Sans. :— Kadali ; Rambha. Dirghapatra, Vrisapuspa. 

 Vern. :— Kela (BE.) ; Kola (B.) ; Kolpaka (As.); Kewiro 

 (Sind.) ; Mouz, kel (Mar.) ; Vazhaip pazham, valai (Tarn.) ; Arati, 

 159 



