CHAPTER IX 



OTHER POISONS OF VEGETABLE ORIGIN 

 CHfiRAKA 



Chiraka merahf an ornamental plant of evil reputa- 

 tioa mth small red flowers (Plumbago rosea, Linn.*— 

 Plumbaginace®) , grows in Malay villages and gardens ; 

 it is the same plant as the Hindustani lal chitra. The 

 botany of Plumbago rosea has been described in great 

 detail by Kirtikar and Basn (Eef. 13). Cheraka merah 

 is an evergreen perennial shrub, 2 to 3 feet high, 

 " very rarely annular " (Boissier) — perhaps only a 

 cultivated variety of P, zeylanica (C. B. Clarke). The 

 root of P. rosea is used by Malay women as an aborti- 

 f acient : it i& from J to | inch in thickness ; when mature 

 it is woody and solid, nodose, and contorted near the 

 stem, with many rootlets, sometimes 2 feet long. 

 When fresh it is darkish yellow in colour, becoming- 

 longitudinally striated when dry ; on section, pale 

 yellow, with a brown tinge in the central axis. In 

 Kelantan it is used for the above illegal purpose in the 

 form of a decoction compounded with the roots of four 

 other village plants, which may be merely flavouring or 

 corrective additions, as the root of P. rosea is well known 

 to be acrid and vesicant. 



These four agents are : (1) The root of henna or 

 *' tree-mignonette" {inai; Lawsonia alba, Lam. — ^Lyth- 

 raeeee), a sbrub whose light green leaves are so often 

 used for beautifying by young Hindu and Muhammadan 

 girls by reddening their palms, finger and toe nails ; 

 for this purpose a paste of the leaves pounded with a 



