IL.—MADAR. 
(Calotropis gigantea, R. Br.) 
With Plate. 
Calotropis gigantea and C. procera are easily distinguished 
though, from a practical point of view, their properties are 
Kew, and are figured in the Botanical Magazine for 1886 (tt. 6862 
and 6859). The former figure is reproduced to illustrate this 
article. 
C. gigantea is a much larger coarser plant than C. procera. 
Both are widely spread in India. But outside it their distribution, 
as Sir Joseph Hooker points out, is contrasted. (C. gigantea 
It is an erect spreading perennial bush which chiefly frequents 
pana arca. Roxburgh placed it in the genus Asclepias, and 
demigods of Rudra. The ancient Arabs also appear to have had 
superstitious beliefs regarding it, since they associated it with 
sun-worship. Itis the ushar of the Arabs and the khark of the 
ersians, but the former seems to be a generic word for milk- 
yielding plants, and was probably restricted to Calotropis at a 
comparatively late date. Abu Hanifeh was perhaps the first Arab 
writer to give an explicit account of it, but much useful informa- 
tion will be found in the writings of Ebn Baithar (Transl. by 
3). 
This plant may be said to yield GUTTA-PERCHA from the 
milky sap; a strong FIBRE from the bark; a useful FLOSS 
from the seeds; anda MEDICINE from the root-bark. Space 
cannot, however, be afforded to do more than review even these 
properties very briefly, and there are many minor ones. * 
