N. U. MAI.V AGISMS. 
183 
166. 11. Abelmoachus, Linn, h.f.b.i., i. 342. 
Roxb. 526. 
Syit . : — Abelmoachus moschatus, Macnch. 
Sans. : — Lata-kasturika. 
Arab. : — Hab-ul-mishk. 
Vern. : — Kasture, kala-kasturi (B); Mushk-dana (H); kas- 
turu-benda Hlec) ; kattuk-kasturi (Tam) ; karpura-benda, (Tel); 
kasturl-bhenda (Mar) ; kapu kimissa (Singh.) 
Habitat : —Throughout the hotter parts of India ; most low 
country Ceylon. Found wild, says Trimen, or much cultivated in 
tropical countries. 
An annual hispid, herbaceous plant, with long deflexed hair, 
tall, 2-3 ft. high. Leaves polymorphous, ovate-cordate or more 
usually palmately cut into 3-5 acute lobes, dentate-serrate, hairy 
on both sides ; petiole usually longer than leaves, with long 
deflexed hairs. Stipules small, subulate. Flowers large, 3-4 in., 
solitary, often appearing to be terminal, bright yellow, with a 
purple centre. Pedicels stout, curved, much thickened beneath 
the flower. Bracteoles 8, distinct, linear, hispid, much shorter 
than Calyx. Sepals completely connate, save at their point into 
a tube which splits down one side. Capsule 2^-3 in., ovate- 
ovoid, acute, hispid ; seeds kidney-bean-shaped, striate. 
Parts used : — The seeds, root and leaves. 
Uses: — The Hindus regard the seeds as cooling, tonic and 
carminative. 
The /Arabic and Persian writers consider them to have sto- 
machic and tonic properties. The author of the Makhzan-ul- 
Adwia recommends a mucilage prepared from the roots and 
leaves of the plant in gonorrhoea. In Bombay, the seeds are 
rubbed to a paste with milk, and used to cure itch (Dymock). 
In the West Indies, the seeds are given in the cure of snake- 
bite, being administered both internally and externally (Watt). 
The late Dr. Moodeen Sheriff used a tincture of the seeds and 
considered it stimulant, stomachic and anti-spasmodic, and 
recommended its exhibition in cases of nervous debility, hysteria, 
and a tonic for dyspepsia. 
