244 
INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 
hurmul (Sind) ; Vilayati-mhendi, vilayati-isband (Dec) ; Hurmal, 
purmaro, ispand. (Bomb) ; Hannala, (Mar) ; Ispun, Hurmaro ; 
(Guz) ; spimai-aravandi, virati, shimai-azha-vanai-virai, (Tam) ; 
Simagoronti-vittulu, (Tel) Hurmul or harrnal, (Arab) ; Isband, 
or ispand, (Pers). 
Habitat : — N. W. India, from Sindh, the Punjab, and the 
Kashmir plain to Delhi and Agra ; the Western Deccan. 
A glabrous bush. Stem 1-3 ft. high, stout, flexuous, 
dichotomously and corymbosely much branched and densely 
foliaged. Leaves 2-3in., green, pinnatifidly cut into linear, 
very narrow acute spreading lobes. Flowers J-fin. diam., 
solitary in axils of the branches, sessile or pedieelled. Calyx- 
tube very narrow, much exceeding the Corolla, persistent. 
Sepals 4-5. Petals 4-5, subequal imbricate, elliptic-oblong. 
Stamens 12-15, inserted at the base of the disk, some antherless; 
filaments dilated below ; anthers linear. Ovary globose, deeply 
2-3-lobed styles basal, twisted, 2-3, keeled above, the keels 
stigmatose ; ovules many in each cell, inserted in the inner 
angle. Fruit a globose capsule Jin. diam., and less. Seeds 
angled, testa spongy, rough ; albumen fleshy ; embryo curved. 
Parts used : — The seeds, leaves and root. 
Use : — In Native works on Materia Medica, it is described 
as an alterative and purifying medicine in atrabilis, and also 
in diseases supposed to arise from cold humors, such as palsy, 
lumbago, &c. ; it is also said to stimulate the sexual system 
both in the male and female, increasing the flow of milk and 
menses in the latter. (Dyaiock.) 
In the Punjab, the seeds are considered narcotic and given 
in fevers and colic. The decoction of the leaves is given for 
rheumatism, and the powdered root mixed with mustard oil, 
is applied to the hair to destroy Vermin. Stewart.) 
In Gujrat, it is burnt in the sick-room as an antiseptic and 
deodorizer when any person sufEers from wounds, ulcers, or 
small-pox. (Ibbetson’s Gazeteer of Gujrat: p. 12.) 
The Natives of the Punjab use these seeds against weakness 
of sight and retention of urine. (Honingberger, Vol : If. p. 284). 
