1358 INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



1330. Seirpus grossus, Linn., h.f.b.i., vi. 659 ; 

 Roxb. 77. 



Sans. : — Kaseruk. 



Vern : — Kaseru ; (H.), kesur (B.) ; Kasara (M.); Kaserudila, 

 (Pb.) ; Gunda tinga gaddi ("Tel.). 



Habitat : — Throughout India. Very common in the Konkan, 

 principally Salsette (Thana marshes). (K.R.K.). 



A very large annual aquatic or marshy herb. Rootstock 

 stout, with thick root fibres, stoloniferous or not. Stem 6-16 ft., 

 as thick as the little finger, triquetrous, spongy, angles smooth, 

 sides concave. Leaves few, radical, 2-3 ft. long by Jin. broad, 

 triquetrous, finely acuminate, coriaceous, margins smooth or 

 scaberulous. Sheath long, open. Spikelets ^-Jin.; globose or 

 globosely ovoid, dark brown, in large corymbiform decompound 

 terminal open or contracted umbels 3-8in. diam. rays rigid, 

 erect or spreading, upto 5in. long. Rhachilla slender. Bracts 

 very large, upto 3ft. by J-tin. broad at the base, flat, leaf-like, 

 margins scaberulous. Glumes rather loosely imbricate, mem- 

 branous, orbicular, yTjin. diam. concave, almost hemispheric, 

 slenderly keeled above the middle, tip rounded ; hypogynous 

 bristles, 6, or fewer, unequal, retrosely scabrid. Stamens 3, 

 anthers linear, sub-acute. Nut j^in.. obovoid, trigonous, dark 

 brown or black, shining, tip conical, style slender, stigmas 3. 

 (Trimen.) 



Uses : — The root has astringent properties, and is given in 

 diarrhoea and vomiting. (Dymock.) If in addition to its value 

 as a delicate article of food it is really useful in diarrhoea a 

 congee made of it with milk will be a very suitable form of 

 nourishment in diarrhoea and vomiting. I can bear testimony 

 to its bland and soothing properties. (K. R. K.) 



Kesur is used to remove the taste of medicine from the 

 mouth. It is chewed also for the purpose of checking sickness. 

 I have often seen it used but I cannot say whether it acts 

 beneficially. (Dr. R. L. Dutt in Watt's Die.) 



