518 
INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 
463. P. puddum, Roxb. h.f.b.i., ii. 314. 
Syn.: — P. sylvatica, Roxb. 403. Cerasus pudum, Wall. 
Sans.: — Padmaka, padmaksh. 
Vern.: — Paddam, paya (Hind.); Kongld (Lepcha); Ohami- 
ari amalguch (Pb.); Padma kastha, padmaka (Mar.); Padma 
kathi, padmak (Guz.). 
Habitat : — Temperatg Himalaya, from Garhwal to Sikkim 
and Bkotan. 
A middle-sized or large, deciduous tree. Bark pale-brown 
to dark-brown, shining, peeling off in thin horizontal shining 
layers. Wood moderately hard, scented ; sapwood white ; heart- 
wbod nearly glabrous. Leaves conduplieate in bud, glossy, 
ovate, long acuminate, sharply serrate ; blade 3-5, petiole Jin. 
long, one or more conspicuous glands on petiole. Stipules 
pinnately or palmately divided, the divisions linear, glandular- 
fimbriate. Flowers white, pink or crimson, appearing before the 
leaves in umbellate fascicles, approximate near the ends of 
branchlets ; pedicels slender, as long as or longer than the 
Calyx. Calyx turbinate, lobes ovate, acute. 
Fruit, a drupe oblong or ellipsoid, obtuse at both ends. 
Flesh, scanty yellow, or reddish, J-fin. long, acid, somewhat 
astringent. Stone ovoid, bony, rugose and furrowed, supported 
by the calyx base, from which the tube separates after flowering. 
Use : — The kernel is used in stone and gravel. The bark 
contains amygdalin, and the smaller branches are sold in the 
bazaars as substitutes for hydrocyanic acid in native practice 
(Watt). 
The seeds of the Bird cherry growing in the Himalayas yield a peculiar 
oil remarkable for its siccative properties. A sample of the freshly express- 
ed oil gave the iodine valne (Hubl) 172. It dried to a skin in glass more 
rapidly than boiled linseed oil. The pressed cake and seeds distilled with 
water afforded considerable quantities of hydrocyanic acid and benzoyl 
aldehyde (oil of bitter almonds.) 
464. P. communis, Ruds. h.f.b.i., ii. 315. 
Habitat : — Western temperate Himalaya ; cultivated or indige- 
nous from Garhwal to Kashmir. 
