N. 0. ASCLEPIADEiE. 
811 
V era. : — Madar, ak, a g, drk, akond, akan (H.) : Akanda, 
guartakand, swet-alcond (B.) ; Alianna (Saiital.) ; Auk (Nepal); 
Akra, rui, akanda mandard (Bomb.) ; Akanda, rui, akda cha 
jhada (Mar.) ; Akado, akdamu jhada, dhola akdo (Guz.) ; Bij- 
eloslia (Sind.); Yercum, eruklcam, erukku (Tam.); Jilledu, 
jilleru, nella-jilledu, mandaramu, jilleduchettu, yekka (Tel.); 
Yekka, ekke-male, yokada (Kan.); Erukku, yerica, beleriea 
(Mai.); ICadrati (Gond.). 
Habitat : — Throughout India, chiefly in* waste land. 
A middle-sized shrub ; young parts covered with appresSed 
white tomentum ; bark pale. Leaves subsessile, 4-8 by l-4in. ( 
obovate or oblong, acute or acuminate, coriaceous, cottony be- 
neath ; base cordate, often amplexicaul. Brandis says the flowers 
are inodorous. They have a faint odour, not at all unpleasant 
Flowers downy outside, on pedicels, arranged in axillary or sub- 
terminal pedunculate, simple or compound, umbels or corymbs ; 
bud ovoid. Corolla ^-1 in. across, dull-purple or purplish lilac, 
or white ; lobes ovate-lanceolate, spreading. Corona-scales 
elongated, but truncate at the apex, hairy. Follicle 3-4in. long, 
recurved. Seeds ovate, din. long, with a bright, silk-white coma. 
Parts used : — The root ; bark ; leaves and juice. 
Uses : — “ The root bark is said to profnote the secretions and 
to be useful in skin diseases, enlargements of the abdominal 
viscera, intestinal worms, cough, ascites, anasarca, &c. The 
milky juice is regarded as a, drastic purgative and caustic, and 
is generally used as such in combination with milky juice of 
Euphorbia ueriifolia. The flowers are considered digestive, 
stomachic, tonic and useful in cough, asthma, catarrh and loss 
of appetite. The leaves, mixed with rock salt, are roasted within 
closed vessels, so that the fumes may not escape. The ashes 
thus produced are given with whey in ascites and enlargements 
of the abdominal viscera. The root-bark, reduced to a paste 
with sour conjee, is applied to elephantiasis of the legs and 
scrotum. The milky juice of G. gigantea and Euphorbia nerii- 
folia, are made into tents with the powdered wood of Berberis 
asiatica, for introduction into sinuses and fistula in ano. The 
milky juice is applied to carious teeth for relief of pain” 
(Dutt). 
