N. O. MALVACEAE. 
175 
acute, irregularly and coarsely dentate or erose, white, with 
very fine, dense pubescence on both sides, especially beneath, 
petioles very long, 1-3 in.; jointed near top. Flowers about 1 in., 
nodding. Pedicel slender, jointed near top. Calyx lobes, 
shallow, apiculate ; carpels 15-20, readily separating when 
ripe, sparsely and roughly hairy on back, beak short, sharp, 
spreading horizontally. Seeds minutely-dotied (Trinien), (Max- 
well M. Masters). 
Flowers orange yellow, throughout the year (Ceylon), 
1 in. diam., opening in the evening (Masters). 
Pans used : —The root ; bark ; leaves ; seeds and fruits. 
Use : — An infusion of the leaves or of the roots is pre- 
scribed in fevers as a cooling medicine (Ainslie). The seeds are 
reckoned aphrodisiac and are used as a laxative in piles. 
The seeds are burned on charcoal, and recta of children 
affected with thread worms are exposed to the smoke. 
A decoction of the leaves is used as a mouth- wash in cases 
of tooth-ache and tender gums, and also in gonorrhoea and 
inflammation of the bladder. 
In Western India, the bark is valued as a diuretic, and the 
seeds on account of their demulcent and mucilaginous properties 
(Dymock). 
The infusion of the root is useful in strangury and hamia- 
turia 
The infusion of the root is said to be useful in leprosy. 
The seeds are given in the treatment of coughs. 
According to the Chinese in Hong-Kong, the seeds are 
employed as an emollient and demulcent ; the root is used as a 
diuretic and pulmonary sedative, and the flowers and leaves as a 
local application to boils and ulcers. Porter Smith states that 
the seeds and the entire plant are used as “ demulcent, lenitive, 
diuretic, laxative and discutient remedies. Puerperal diseases, 
urinary disorders, chronic dysentery and fevers are treated with 
the seeds.” Notes on Chinese Materia Medica by Ho Kai and 
Crow in Ph. J. for Oct. 22, 1887. 
The leaves contain some mucilaginous substance which 
