236 
INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 
chatom arak (Santal.) ; cliengeri tenga (Assam) ; Pullampurachi 
sappu (KaD) ; Poll yarala (Mai.). 
Eng : — The Indian sorrel. 
Habitat : — Throughout the warmer parts of India. 
An annual or biennial appressed-pubescent, diffuse herb 
of very variable size and habit. iStems branched, procumbent, 
without runners. Leaves long-petioled, all cauline, 3-foliate. 
Leaflets obcordate. Stipules adnate to the petiole. Peduncles 
axillary ; petals yellow, notched. Flowers subumbellate, f-in. 
diam. Sepals obtuse, bracts setaceous. Fruiting pedicels 
depressed. Capsules tomentose, subcylindric. Cells many- 
seeded. Seeds transversly ribbed. 
Part used : — The whole plant. 
Uses : — The leaves are considered by the Sanskrit writers, as 
cooling, refrigerant and .stomachic. The fresh juice expressed 
from them is said to relieve intoxication from Datura ; and 
said to be useful in dysentery and prolapsus of the rectum. 
(Dutt.) 
An infusion of the small leaves is given as a cooling medicine 
in fevers (Honingberger). It is used externally to remove warts 
and opacities of the cornea. (B. Powell.; 
The fresh leaves made into a curry are said to improve the 
appetite and digestion of dyspeptic patients. Bruised with or 
without water, they are formed into a poultice and applied over 
inflamed parts, by which means, great cold is produced, and 
pain and other symptoms are relieved. Prepared with hot water, 
the leaves make a very efficient poultice for boils. The leaves 
are refrigerant and anti-scorbutic. (Moodeen Sheriff.) 
In the Concan the plant is rubbed down with water, boiled 
and the j uice of white onions added ; this mixture is applied to 
the head in bilious headache. (Dymock.| 
214 . 0. acetosella, Linn, h.f.b.i., i. 436 . 
(Sinhalese) Hin-Embul-Sinhiliya. 
Habitat : — Temperate Himalaya, from Kashmir to Sikkim. 
One of the commonest weeds throughout Ceylon. 
