N. 0. OOMPOSTT/E. 
685 
A large, annual herb, 2-4ft. (Trimen), l-3ft. (J. D. Hooker), 
6-7 ft. (Kanjilal), common on clamp fallow lands. Stem stiff, 
erect, with spreading opposite horizontal branches below, and 
dichotomously branched above, finely pubescent purple. Leaves 
opposite, l-5in. long and broad, oval-triangular or short petioles, 
shortly tapering at base, acuminate, acute, deeply and irregu- 
larly laciniate serrate, densely and finely pubescent on both 
sides, pale, yellowish-green, the uppermost much smaller and 
nearly entire. Heads fin. in diam. small, pedunculate, yellow, 
subglobose, solitary in the forks of very large lax dichotomous 
corymbose inflorescence. Involucre-bracts very dissimilar, five 
outer over fin., linear spathulate or club-shaped at end, 
horizontally spreading, with recurved margins, upper surface 
set with numerous large, extremely viscous, glandular on back. 
Ray flower red beneath, very short, recurved, 3-toothed. Achenes 
each enclosed in a boat-shaped bractlet, glabrous, slightly 
rough (Trimen) ; curved, quadrangular, black (Kanjilal;. 
Uses : — “Tt has a high reputation as a valuable depurative, 
and also for its healing properties in gangrenous ulcers and 
sores. It is strongly recommended in diseases of urethra. 0 ® 
Dr. Daruty, of Mauritius, writes me that he prescribes it with 
very good results in the from of an aqueous extract, in syrup 
and sometimes combined with iodide of potassium, in cases 
where a powerful alterative, sudorific, and anti-syphilitic is re- 
quired. He believed it to much more powerful than Sarsa- 
parilla ” (Christy’s ‘New Commercial Plants and Drugs’ No. IX., 
p. 49, 1886;. 
Externally, a mixture of equal parts of the tincture and 
glycerine has been tried in Europe with good effect in ringworm 
and similar parasitic eruptions. Antiseptic properties have 
been ascribed to the fresh plant, applied to unhealthy ulcers. 
648 . Enhydra flu ctuans, Lour, h.f.b.i., iii. 304 . 
Syn. ■ — Hingtsha repens, Roxb. 609. 
Sans. : — Hilamochika. 
Fern. : — Harhuch (H.) Hingcha(B.) 
Habitat : — Eastern Bengal, Assam and Silhet. 
