N. 0. STDROPHYLLAOEiE. 855 
sub8titated. The dried plant appears also to be used for the 
same purposes (Ph. Iud.). 
This and other species of Ophelfe are common throughout 
the Himalaya, and several others occur in the mountains 
of the Madras Peninsula. They all possess strong bittter 
properties, and may, therefore, where they are indigneous, . 
be substituted for the officinal Chiretta, which is rare to the 
west of Nepal, and is not found in Central or Southren India. 
807. Menyanthes trifoliata, Linn, h.f.b.i., iv. 
130. 
Habitat: — Western Himalaya; Kashmir. 
Perennial herbs. Stems cove,re.d by lax sheathing petioles; 
the lower leafless. Leaves alternate, 3-foliate, leaflets elliptic or 
oblong-obtuse, entire or obscurely wavy, subsessile 2 by I in. 
Petioles 3-8in. Peduncle 3-6in. . Raceme l-6in. Pedicels J-fin. 
Flowers whitq or bluish. Sepals £in. Corolla §-£in. Style lin. 
Capsule i-Jiu., sometimes bifid nearly to the base. Seeds j^in. 
Use : — The leaves, the Buckbean or Boybean, are considered 
a valuable tonic and reckoned as one of the best of gentians. -Jt-amfouM, 
On the entire plant being extracted with boiling alcohol, a glncoside, ^ 1 ' 
meliatin, 0 15 H 23 O s was isolated from the extract. The yield was abont SO 
grms. from 23 kilos of the plant. It has a bitter taste which becomes stronger 
after a short time. It meltsat 228° C. on the Maquenne block, and at 222°C in 
a capillary tube. The optical rotation in aqueous solution is [a]D= — 81 - 9ft°. 
It has no reducing action upon Fehling's Solution, and when hydrohysed by 
emulsion, dextrose is produced.— [M. Bridel. Comptes rend, 1911, abstracted 
in J. Ch. I., July 15, 1911, p. 429]. ^ v - y , ■ 
t 
N. 0. HYDROPHYLLACEiE. 
808. Hydrolea zeylanica, Vahl. h.f.b.i., iv. 
133 ; Roxb. 265. 
Sans : — Langali. 
Vern. : — Kasschara, isha-langulya (B.); Tsjeru-vallel (Malay). 
Habitat Throughout India, in wet places. 
An annual, unarmed herb. Stem 6-18in., usually decumbent 
and rooting at nodes below, glabrous, rather succulent, with short. 
