; ».. C. .COMMELINACEJS. 1307 



The authors of the Pharmac.ographia Indica (III. 509), speaking of C. Bengal- 

 ensis, Linn, write :— '/ This and several other species of Oommelina are 

 included under the Sanskrit name Kanchata * * * The stems, roots and 

 seeds which contain much mucilage and starch are used on account of their 

 demulcent properties. 



1292. C. suffruticosa, Blume., h.f.b.i., vl, 374. 



Vern. : — Dare orsa (Santal). 



Habitat: — Tropical India, from Nepal, Si kkim and Bengal 

 to Central India. 



An annual branching herb, usually slender and creeping 

 below. Stems stout, branched, nearly glabrous. Leaves 3-14in. 

 by f-2in., acuminate, sessile, lanceolate, scabridly pubescent ; 

 sheaths auricled. Spathes |-Jin. long and broad, small, shortly 

 • peduncled, broadly ovate, cordate between, cucullate and com- 

 plicate, panicled or clustered, acute or obtuse, villous. Raceme 

 simple, 6-12-fid. Petals white or blue. Seeds straw-coloured, 

 puberulous, ellipsoid, rugose. Capsules 2-celled. 



Use :— The root is applied by Santals to sores. (Campbell.) 



1293. Aneilema seapiflorum, Wight, h.f.b.i., 

 vl, 375. 



Syn. :— Commelina scapiflora, Boxb. 59. 



Vern, : — Siyah mfisli (Hind.) ; Kureli (B.) ; Sis-mulia (Guj.). 



Habitat : — Temperate and Tropical Himalaya, from the Upper 

 Gangetic plain, eastwards to Bhutan, Travancore and Tenasserim. 



Simple herbs. Roots of elongated tubers. Leaves all radical, 

 4-10in., erect, finely acuminate, narrowly ensiform. Scape 

 erect, with narrow, strict, elongate panicle 8-18in. Bracts large, 

 sheathing, lower ones long, upper small, amplixicaul. Flowers 

 small. Capsule ellipsoid, trigonous, Jin., mucronate. Seeds in a 

 triangular column, angled, straw-coloured, with a white, minutely 

 reticulate and glandular epidermis, 3-0 — superposed in each 

 cell. (J. D. Hooker). 



Uses : — Said to have astringent and tonic properties, and 

 considered to be hot and dry ; useful in headache, giddiness, 



