726 
INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 
698. Launea asplenifolia, DC. h.f.b.i., hi. 415 ; 
Roxb. 594. 
Vern. : — Tik-chana (B.) ; Birmalla (Santali). 
Habitat : — Plains of India, from the Punjab to Assam, and 
southwards to the Sunderbuns, Circars, Andamans, 4c. 
Biennial or perennial, glabrous herb, with juice yellow. 
Leaves 3-6in., sessile or shortly petioled, narrowly obovate, 
lobes minutely toothed. Radical leaves sinuate-lobed or pin- 
natifid, cauline few. Flowering stems many from the root, 
ascending almost naked, 6-18in., long ; branches dichotomous, 
divaricating. Heads |in. terminal paniculate, peduncles brac- 
teate. Bracts one or two, subulate. Involucre-bracts quite 
glabrous, small ; inner linear, margins membranous. Achenes 
not winged, minute ^in., pale, v6ry narrow. Pappus white soft, 
£in., diciduous, hairs about equal length, with no stronger inner 
ones (J. D. Hooker). 
Use The root of this plant, along with that of utlri dudhi, 
pounded and boiled in mustard oil, is given as a lactagogue 
by the Santals (Revd. A. Campbell) 
699. L. nudicaulis, Lees, h.f.b.i., iii. 416 ; 
Roxb. 593. 
Vern. : — Batthal, dudhlak, tariza, spudulcei (Pb.). 
Habitat : — Throughout the plains of India. 
A glabrous, perennial herb, with yellow juice. Stems tufted, 
usually decumbent, numerously branching, 6-24in. Roots 
with yellow juice ; the stems are naked, or with a few small 
leaves below the flower-clusters. Leaves 2-10 by l-3in., usually 
sessile, sinuate lobed, pinnatifid or runcinate (J. D. Hooker); lobes 
irregularly lobulate and sharply toothed, teeth often white and 
cartilaginous. Flowering stems usually very numerous, 6-24in. 
long, spreading on all sides, stout or slender, simple or branched. 
Heads J-fin. long, clusters of 2-5 or about 10, rarely solitary, 
forming much interrupted racemes, or crowded together at the 
end of branches. Involucre-bracts overtopping the pappus. 
Achenes much shorter than the pappus (Collett), j^in., very 
