m 
USEFUL PLANTS OF THE DISTRICT OF LAKHIMPUR. 
Local name.— K eseru pat. 
Distrib.— From the Siwaliks in the Sub -Himalayan tract to Burma. 
Abundant in Bengal. Also Tonquin, Java and China. 
A tree with large, pinnately compound leaves, and flowers in umbels which are arranged in 
long panicles. The leaves are used for feeding the Eri silk worm but are not so good as 
the leaves of the castor-oil plant. 
LXI. UMBELLIFEILE, 
141. Hydrocotyle Linn. 
169. H. rotundifolia Boxb. F. B. I. ii, 668 ; Eng. & Prantl iii, 8^ 
119 ; Beng. PI. 535. 
Dibrugarh. Nq. 61. 
Local name. — Mam muni. 
Distrib.— North-west Himalayas, Bengal and Sikkim to Khasia, 
Malabar hills and Ceylon. Throughout Malaya and in Guinea. 
A very common wayside herb very well known as a medicinal plant. The stems are pros- 
trate and root at the nodes. The leaves are circular. They are applied to boils to draw out 
the pus. 
170. II. asiatic'a Linn* F. B. I. ii, 669 ; Beng. PI. 535 ; D. E. P. 
iv, 311 ; Pharmacog. Ind. ii, 107. 
Centella asiuticalArm. Eng. & Prantl iii, 8, 119. 
Dibrugarh. No. 60. 
Local name. — Mani muni. 
Distrib.— Throughout tropical and sub-tropical regions. 
This is also a common wayside herb like the above.. Its leaves are usually much larger and 
darker .green than those of II. rotundif lia Roxb. The leaves are also applied to boils to 
draw out pus. The leaves of this plant have been given internally for leprosy. They contain 
a substance called vellarin, which is probably a mixture of a resin and a fatty body (see 
Pharmacog. Ind. loc. cit.) In view of the receut work done on the treatment of leprosy 
and tuberculosis by salts of fatty acids this vellarin should be investigated chemically 
and pharmacologically. 
143. Eryugium Linn. 
171. E, ffletidiim Linn. Eng. & Prantl iii, 8, 143. 
Dibrugarh. No. 84 and Ledo. No. 107. 
Local name. — Barma dhaniya. 
Distrib. — Brazil, West Indies and Florida. 
A much branched prickly herb, very aromatic when bruised. The flowers are arranged in 
numerous small conical heads. This plant is an alien, but it is now very common all over 
Lakhimpur reaching far into tho jungle wherever roads have been made. It is well known t8 
all the country people who add- one or two of the very aromatic leaves to then carries. It is 
difficult to know why they associate the plant with coriander (dhaniya). They often showed 
us the two plants together saying this dhaniya (Coriandrum) is the deti one and this 
( Eryngiutn ) the belati or Burmese one. 
