N. O. MFNlSPEflMACE.U. 
59 
tomentose, then glabrous. Leaves membranous from a straight or 
cordate, sometimes slightly peltate base, suborbicular, obtuse, 
acute or retuse ; pale beneath ; 5 basal nerves (Brandis). 
Petiole 1-2 in. Inflorescence. Cymes 2-3-chotomous, often 
many and superposed. Peduncles 1-2 in., axillary. Sepals villous, 
6, with three bracts, outer smaller, inner spathulate. Petals 6 
cuneate-acute, says Hooker, margins incurved. Male flowers: — 
6 stamens ; fdaments cylindric, anthers adnate, bursting trans- 
versely. Female flowers: — Staminodes 6, clavate, ovaries 3; 
styles bifid, segments subulate. Drupes red, subglobose, the size 
of a pea. Endocarp horse-shoe-shaped, dorsally crested and 
echinate ; sides excavated, seed curved. Cotyledons elongate, 
flat, scarcely broader than the radicle. 
Purl used : — The root. 
Use : —The roots have long been held in great repute among 
snake-charmers in India as an antidote to the bites of 
poisonous snakes. Surgeon-Colonel D D. Cunningham lias 
proved that a fluid extract of the roots, when injected into the 
bitten place, possesses decided remedial power, though it has no 
general action. It acts by precipitating the poison, and thus 
rendering it inert when brought into direct relation with it, 
prior to the absorption of the venom into the system generally. 
46. Stephania hernandi folia, Walp. H.F.B 4 ., 
1 . 103. 
Syn.:— Cissempelos hexandra, Roxb, G. liernandifolia, Willd., 
Clypea liernandifolia, IV. and A. Wight Ic. t. 939. 
Sans. : — Ambastha ; patha. 
Vern.' — A’knadi ; Neinuka; agnad (B.) Lupuketiya-wel 
(Sinhalese). 
Habitat : — From Nepal to Chittagong. Singapore, Ceylon, 
Malaya. 
A slender twiner, shoots glabrous. Leaves 2-4 in., .round- 
ovate, acute or obtuse, peltate, cordate or truucate at base, 
glabrous, glaucous beneath. Petiole 1-2 in., slender, divaricate. 
Flowers greenish-white, very small, nearly sessile in small umbels 
