1332 



INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



and then of throwing the bug into a state of torpor from which 

 nothing will arouse it. In two or three nights, the jail has been 

 completely cleared of bugs." 



The ashes are applied to ringworm of the scalp, and in 

 some parts of India are known as pdnd salt. (Watt.) 



1308. Arisoema speeiosum, Mart., h.v.b.i., vi. 500. 



Syn. : — Aram speeiosum, Wall. 



Vern. :— Samp-ki-khumb ; kiri-ki-kukri, kiralu (Pb.). 



Habitat : — Temperate Himalaya, from Kumaon to Sikkim 

 and Bhotan. 



Root-stock oblique or shortly creeping and rooting ; often 

 5in. diam. Petiole very stout, green, smooth, often marbled 

 with brown or purple. Leaf solitary. Leaflets all petiolulate 

 acuminate lateral, dimidiate cordate, median ovate, cuneate or 

 rounded at the base, 16-19in., edged with red or purple. 

 Petiolule i-2in.; nerves broadly reticulate. Peduncle much 

 shorter than the petiole. Limb of spathe 2-6in. long banded 

 white and purple ; ovate-lanceolate, incurved, caudate, acumi- 

 nate ; tube of spathe 2-4in., striped with purple, spadix pink 

 or yellowish tail, 12-lSin., dark-purple. Base of appendage 

 not often inflated, usually ovoid, not truncate or disciform. 

 Appendage cylindric or fusiform narrowed into a very long 

 filiform tail. Anther cells 4-5. Ovaries ovoid. Stigma sessile, 

 pulvinate. Very variable in size and colouring. 



Uses: — In Hazara, the root is stated to be poisonous; in 

 Chumba, it is applied pounded to snake-bites. In Kulu, where 

 the tuber is given to sheep for colic, the fruit is said to have 

 deleterious effects on the mouth when eaten by children. 

 (Stewart.) 



1309. A. tortuosum, Schott. h.f.b.i., vi. 502. 



Syn. : — A. curvatum, Kunth. Roxb. 628. 



Vern :— Bir-banka (Nepal) ; Gurin, dor, kirkichalu, kirakal, 

 jangush (Pb.). 



Habitat : — Temperate and subtemperate Himalaya, from Simla 



