N. O. AniSTOLOCTlIACE/E. 
1085 
pedicels slender, jointed about the middle or unjointed. 
Flowers sometimes 2-nate and connate, valves large, orbicular, 
2-lobed at each end, very membranous and reticulate without a 
marginal nerve. Fruit §in. diam., white or pink ; valves hyaline. 
Uses :— It has obtained the name of Sorrel in India, and is 
considered by the natives as cooling and aperient, and, to a 
certain extent, diuretic (Ainslieb The juice is said to allay 
the pain of toothache, and by its astringent properties to 
check nausea, promote the appetite and allay morbid craving 
for unwholesome substances. It is also considered very cooling 
and of use in heat of stomach, and externally as an epithem 
to allay pain, especially that caused by the bites or stings of 
reptiles and insects. The seeds are said to have similar proper- 
ties, and are prescribed roasted in dysentery, and as an antidote 
to scorpion stings. The root is also medicinal (Dymock). 
N. 0. ARISTOLOCHIACEiE. 
1074. Braganita Walliehii, Br., h.f.b.i., v. 73. 
Vern. : — Alpam (Mai.). 
Habitat : — Deccan Peninsula ; in the western forests, from 
the Southern Concan southwards. 
An erect slender shrub, 6-10fi. Bark smooth, yellowish. 
Twigs swollen above the nodes. -Young parts finely pubescent. 
Branches angled. Leaves distichous, 5-7in., linear-lanceolate, 
acute at base, attenuate, very acute, entire, glabrous above, 
minutely pubescent and paler beneath, 3-nerved at base, veins, 
prominent beneath. Petiole very short, stout. Flowers purple 
or greenish on rather long pubescent pedicels, in shortly stalked, 
irregularly umbellate cymes. Bracts small, linear. Perianth 
segments over jin., ovate, pubescent, concave. Capsule 3-4in., 
obtuse, 4-seeded. Seeds acute at both ends, deeply rugose. 
Leaves slightly aromatic when bruised (Trimen). 
Uses : -The juice of the leaves, like that of many plants of 
this Natural Order, is valued as an antidote in venomous snake 
bites, especially in that of the Cobra. Fra Bartolomeo (Voyage, 
