N. 0. COMPOSITE. 
699 
says J. D. Hooker, “ one of the most minute fruits of any flower- 
ing plants Further, says Hooker, though usually described 
as annual, some specimens both from the plains of India and 
Tibet have woody stocks. 
Use : — The branches appear to be officinal in the. Punjab. 
The smoke is considered good for burns, and the infusion is 
given as a purgative (Stewart). 
663 . A. maritima, Linn, h . f . b . i ., iii . 323 . 
Vern.i — Kiramani owa (Bomb.) ; Tarkli (Pushtoo). 
Arab, and Pers. : --Sheeh ; Sariqun ; Afsantin-ul-bahr. 
Habitat : — Western Himalaya, from Kashmir to Kumaon. 
Hoary or tomentose, shrubby below. Rootstocks woody, 
branched, stems erect or ascending, much branched from the 
bases. 6-18in., strict, woody or wiry. Leaves ovate, 2-pinnatisect ; 
J-2in., often quite white, with very many segments; segments 
small, spreading, linear obtuse; upper simple linear. Heads 
3-8 fid. ovoid or oblong suberect in spicate fascicles, often, 
reddish, crowded and bracteolate by a small linear or almost 
setaceous leaf. Bracts linear oblong, outer herbaceous tomentose, 
inner scarious, acute, glabrous. 
Use : — In Bombay, the Hakims prescribe it in doses of 2 to 
3 derhems as an anthelmintic, and also deobstruent and stomac- 
hic- tonic. In the form of a poultice, they use it to relieve the 
pain caused by the bites of scorpions and other venomous reptiless 
(Dymoelt). 
“Useful in gleet” (Surg. Masani in Watt’s Diet., Vol. 1). 
Officinal in both Indian and British Pharmacopoeias ; used 
as au anthelmintic. According to Dr. Von Schloeder, it is 
not poisonous to ascarides as was formerly thought, but 
merely drives them to the large intestine whence they can be 
removed. 
It is indigenous to Southern Afghanistan and Baluchistan, 
and is much used as an antiperiodic. An infusion (and also 
decoction/ of the fresh plant has been very successfully used 
