1284 
INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 
broad base ; bracts ovate, acuminate ; perianth-segments sub- 
valvate, fleshy, outer xVn. long, lanceolate, inner rather smaller 
and narrower ; stamens 6 ; filaments much shorter than the 
segments. Anthers minute, didynamous, pistillode, 3-lobed ; 
female spikes axillary, so itary or fascicled, 4-10in. long, 
pendulous ; flowers sessile, •£ in., glabrous ; perianth-segments as 
in the male. Staminodes 6, ovary, with 2 minute, ovate, acu- 
minate bracts at the base ; style short, conical ; stigmas 3, very 
short, recurved. Fruit f-lin. long, by -§-$in. broad, quadrately 
oblong, rather broader upwards ; top truncate or abruptly 
acute ; base truncate or subcordate. Seeds winged at the lower 
end only ; wing twice as long as the nucleus. (Trimen.) 
Use : — In the form of a powder, the root is used as an exter- 
nal application for ulcers. 
1269 . D. bulbifera, Linn., h.f.b.i., vi., 296 . 
Vern . : — Zamin kand (H.); Piska (Santali); Karanda (Bomb.); 
Kau-karinda (Dec.) ; Kuru kanda (Chanda) ; Kathalu, patni-alu, 
mati-alu (Assam) ; Malaka-kaya-penda lam, chedu paddu dumpa 
(Tel.). 
Habitat : — Sylhet, Chittagong and throughout the Western 
Ghats of Bombay. 
It is a distinct species, the capsule being longer than broad, 
and the seeds winged at the base only ; the leaves are 
bright, shining, green ; and the transverse nerves rest within 
channels. The tubers are round, not larger than a man’s fist. 
The stem bears numerous little tubers by which the plant may 
be propagated. The terial tubers also afford characters by 
which the varieties may be separately recognised. (Watt’s 1 
Commercial Products of India, p. 493). 
Uses: — The tubers are applied to ulcers after being dried 
and powdered. In the plains of the Punjab, the leaves are used 
medicinally and sold under the name of tatar puttr. Baillon 
alludes to the known febrifugal property of the leaves of certain 
species of Dioscorea, rendering them useful in the treatment of 
intermittent fevers. The flower spikes long, white, tender, 
«»nd beautiful (female) are cooked and eaten as a savoury 
vegetable in the Thana district. (K. R. Kirtikar.) 
