1266 INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



kadalamu (Tel.) ; Bale ; bale-naru (Kan); Vala, vazhap-pagham, 

 vellacoi, pizaug (Mai.). 



Habitat :— Cultivated throughout India. 



Root-stock stoloniferous. Stem subarborescent of convo- 

 lute leaf-sheaths, cylindric, erect, 8-1 2ft. Leaves very stoutly 

 petioled, 4-5ft., oblong, bright-green above, paler beneath; 

 midrib channelled ; veins horizontal. Spike decurved, usually 

 about 2ft.-3ft., very rarely as long as the leaf, glabrous; 

 peduncle about ljin. diam., below the inflorescence green, 

 glabrous. Bracts large, many-fid, spathiform, bright to dark 

 crimson. Male bracts 6 by 2 Jin., ovate, oblong-obtuse ; deciduous ; 

 male flowers very many in each bract, ljin. long, nearly white. 

 Calyx tubular, slit to the base in front, 5-toothed teeth, recurved ; 3 

 outer larger, yellowish-white. Calyx lobes ovate, acute. Corolla 

 a single, convex, membranous petal, opposite the slit of the calyx, 

 embracing the base of the stamens and style. Petal about 

 half as long as the calyx, i.e., J-fin. ; tip rounded ; stamens 

 5, (rudimentary or 0) ; Anther £in., obtuse, 2-celled. Stigma 

 clavate, tip constricted, truncate. Fruit 4in. long, obovate- 

 oblong, slightly curved, suddenly constricted at the apex and 

 at the base into a stout pedicel, i-Jin., long, obtusely 3-5 angled, 

 golden yellow, sweet, pulpy when ripe. Seedless in cultivated 

 form ; full of many seeds in the wild form. Seeds about |-in. 

 diam., subglobose, angled by pressure tubereted ; testa brownish- 

 black, crustaceous, rugose, |-in. diam. 



Uses: — The unripe fruit, called mockaka in Sanskrit, is 

 considered cooling and astringent; it is much used in diabetes 

 in the form of a cjhrita, composed of plantain flowers, rootstock," 

 and unripe fruits, ghi, cloves, cardamoms, and several other 

 drugs. This medicine is generally prescribed in doses of two 

 tolas along with some preparation of tin or other metallic drug. 

 (U. C. Dutt.) Young plantain leaves are used as a cool dressing 

 for blisters, burns, &c, and to retain the moisture of water 

 dressings. They may also be used as a green shade in ophthal- 

 mia and other eye diseases. The root and stem are considered 

 tonic, anti-scorbutic, and useful in ''disorders of the blood " and 

 venereal disease, Emerson states that the sap forms a valuable 



