1284 



INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



broad base ; bracts ovate, acuminate ; perianth-segments sub- 

 valvate, fleshy, outer join, long, lanceolate, inner rather smaller 

 and narrower ; stamens 6 ; filaments much shorter than the 

 segments. Anthers minute, didynamous, pistillode, 3-lobed ; 

 female spikes axillary, so itary or fascicled, 4-10in. long, 

 pendulous ; flowers sessile,^ in., glabrous ; perianth-segments as 

 in the male. Staminodes 6, ovary, with 2 minute, ovate, acu- 

 minate bracts at the base ; style short, conical ; stigmas 3, very 

 short, recurved. Fruit §-lin. long, by |-Jin. broad, quadrately 

 oblong, rather broader upwards ; top truncate or abruptly 

 acute ; base truncate or subcordate. Seeds winged at the lower 

 end only ; wing twice as long as the nucleus. (Trimen.) 



Use : — In the form of a powder, the root is used as an exter- 

 nal application for ulcers. 



1269. D. bulbifera, Linn., h.f.b.l, vl, 296. 



Vem. :— Zamin kand (H.); Piska (Santali); Karanda (Bomb.); 

 Kau-karinda (Dec.) ; Kuru kanda (Chanda) ; Kathalu, patni-alu, 

 mati-alu (Assam) ; Malaka-kaya-penda lam, chedu paddu dumpa 

 (Tel.). 



Habitat : — Sylhet, Chittagong and throughout the Western 

 Ghats of Bombay. 



It is a distinct species, the capsule being longer than broad, 

 and the seeds winged at the base only ; the leaves are 

 bright, shining, green ; and the transverse nerves rest within 

 channels. The tubers are round, not larger than a man's fist. 

 The stem bears numerous little tubers by which the plant may 

 be propagated. The serial tubers also afford characters by 

 which the varieties may be separately recognised. (Watt's 

 Commercial Products of India, p. 493). 



Uses :—The tubers are applied to ulcers after being dried 

 and powdered. In the plains of the Punjab, the leaves are used 

 medicinally and sold under the name of tatar puttr. Baillon 

 alludes to the known febrifugal property of the leaves of certain 

 species of Dioscorea, rendering them useful in the treatment of 

 intermittent fevers. The flower spikes long, white, tender, 

 and beautiful (female) are cooked and eaten as a savoury 

 vegetable in the Thana district. (K. R. Kirtikar.) 



