LEPIDIUM SATIVUM — MENTHA SYLVESTRIS. 



49 



LEPIDIUM SATIVUM, Linn. 



Cress; halim, halon, (Hind.) ; half (Arab.) ; halch (Pers.). 

 Natural order Cruciferce. 



Garden cress is grown in patches in almost every native garden in the plains as a 

 cold weather crop. Though often met with as an escape it is not known to be indi- 

 genous in India. DeCandolle believes it to be a native of Persia, and to have spread 

 thence into the gardens of India, Syria, Greece, and Egypt, and as far even as Abyssinia. 

 Eoyle also said : — 



u It is probable that it was introduced into India from Cabul or Persia, where also we must look 

 " for the route by which the cabbage, radish, and turnip have found their way into India, as all were 

 " known and cultivated long before they were introduced by Europeans." 



The seeds are used as a tonic laxative and antiscorbutic, and as a gentle stimulant 

 in indigestion (Atkinson, Him. Dist.). The leaves are also eaten raw. 



MENTHA SYLVESTRIS, LinnS 



Mint; Podina, Padina, (Hind.). 



Natural order Labiatce. A sweet-scented hoary-tomentose perennial herb witb a creeping root- 

 stock. Flowers lilac, in terminal spikes witb the whorls more or less interrupted. 



This plant is a native of the temperate Himalayan region. It is grown in many 

 native gardens in the plains of India. The leaves, as well as a decoction of the plant, 

 are used as a carminative and stimulant. A preparation of the leaves also forms an in- 

 gredient of sauces together with chillies and salt. 



Spearmint {Mentha viridis, Linn.) is also to be found in many native gardens in 

 the plains, and is known by the name of pahdri padina. The plant is used as a fla- 

 vouring ingredient in curries, and the oil is given medicinally as a stimulative and 

 carminative in indigestion and colic, and along with purgatives to prevent griping. 



* References :— Fl. Br. Ind., I., 159 ; Roxb., Fl. Ind. (Clarke's h'd.), 497 ; Watt, Diet. Econom. Prod., IV., 627 ; 

 Royle, 111. Him. Bot., 70 ; Stewart, Punj. PL, 14 ; Atkinson, Econom. Prod., N.-W. Prov. ; V., 39 ; Him. Dist., I., 702, 740 ; 

 Pharmacogr. Ind. L, 120 ; DC, L'Orig. PI. Cult,, 68. 



t PI. Br. Ind., IV., 647 ; Boiss. Fl. Or., IV., 543 ; Watt, Diet. Econom. Prod , V., 230; Dymoek, Veg. Mat. Med , 

 615 ; Atkinson, Him. Dist., I., 315 ; Econom. Prod., IN.-W. Prov., V., 18 ; Baden-Powell, Punj. Prod., 365 ; Stewart, Punj. 

 PI., 169. 



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