1290 INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



Herbs, glabrous or nearly so. Root-stock creeping ; stems 

 2-3ft., round, arching. Leaves alternate oblong, ovate, 3|-4im by 

 ljin., nearly sessile, pointed, sub-bifarious or secund, oblong, by 

 lower surface glaucous, sub-acute. Peduncles 1-5-fid., i-iin. 

 Racemes solitary, axillary, 2-5 flowered. Perianth *-£ in. ; tube 

 white ; lobes green, constricted in the middle; nerves within 

 hairy- Filaments puberulous, inserted above the middle of the 

 tube. Berry globose, Jin. diam., blue, black. Seeds few. 



Uses : — The rhizomes are used in Europe as a popular 

 remedy for removing bruises, and discoloration of the skin 

 resulting from blows. 



1278. A sphodelus tenuifolius, Cavan., h.f.b.i., vi., 

 332. 



Vern. :— Piazi, bokat (Pb.) ; Binghar-bij (seed) (Pb.) 



Habitat: — Abundant as field weed in most parts of the 

 plains of India, from Bengal westward to Gujrat and the Punjab. 



An erect, glabrous, annual herb. Leaves radical, linear, 6-12in., 

 slender, terete, fistular, erect, acuminate, i^in. diam. Scape 

 smooth or papillosely scaberulous, 6-24in., often much branched. 

 Pedicels jointed below the middle, i-Jin. Flowers bracteate, 

 racemed. Perianth 6-parted, £in. long. Segments white, with 

 a red-brownish costa, spreading. Stamens 6, hypogynous, fila- 

 ments fusiform towards the tip, with bases dilated, concave, 

 closely covering the ovary. Ovary 3-celled; style straight. 

 Stigma 3-lobed, terminal. Ovules 2in. each cell. Capsule globose, 

 |in. diam., horizontally wrinkled. Seeds usually 3, 3-sided. 

 J. D. Hooker remarks : " Wight's figure is very incorrect as 

 regards the filaments ; he is unable to give any locality for the 

 specimen figured, which, he supposes is from the sandy soils of 

 the East Coast of the Deccan." 



Uses :- -The seed is officinal at Lahore. It is said to be 

 diuretic. 



1279. Ghlorophytum arundinaceum, Baker., 

 h.f.b.i., vi., 333. 



Vern. : — Safed musli (H.) ; Ganjagata (Gond). 



