1332 
INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS. 
and then of throwing the bug into a state of torpor from which 
nothing will arouse it. In two or three nights, the jail has been 
completely cleared of bugs.” 
The ashes are applied to ringworm of the scalp, and in 
some parts of India are known as pdna salt. (Watt.) 
1308 . Ariscema speciosum, Mart., h.f.b.i., vi. 500 . 
Syn. : — Arum speciosum, Wall. 
Vern. : — Samp-ki-khumb ; kiri-ki-kukri, kiralu(Pb.). 
Habitat : — Temperate Himalaya, from Kumaon to Sikkim 
and Bhotan. 
Root-stock oblique or shortly creeping and rooting ; often 
5in. diam. Petiole very stout, green, smooth, often marbled 
with brown or purple. Leaf solitary. Leaflets all petiolulate 
acuminate lateral, dimidiate cordate, median ovate, cuneate or 
rounded at the base, 16-19in., edged with red or purple. 
Petiolule £-2in.; nerves broadly reticulate. Peduncle much 
shorter than the petiole. Limb of spathe 2r6in. long banded 
white and purple ; ovate-lanceolate, incurved, caudate, acumi- 
nate ; tube of spathe 2-4in., striped with purple, spadix pink 
or yellowish tail, 12-18in., dark-purple. Base of appendage 
not often inflated, usually ovoid, not truncate or disciform. 
Appendage cylindric or fusiform narrowed into a very long 
filiform tail. Anther cells 4-6. Ovaries ovoid. Stigma sessile, 
pulvinate. Very variable in size and colouring. 
Uses: — In Hazara, the root is stated to be poisonous; in 
Chumba, it is applied pounded to snake-bites. In Kfilfi, where 
the tuber is given to sheep for colic, the fruit is said to have 
deleterious eflects on the mouth when eaten by children. 
(Stewart.) 
1309 . A. tortuosum, Schott, h.f.b.i., vi. 502 . 
Syn. : — A. curvatum, Kunth. Roxb. 628. 
Vern : — Bir-banka (Nepal) ; Gurin, dor, kirkichSlu, kirakal, 
jangush (Pb.). 
Habitat : — Temperate and subtemperate Himalaya, from Simla 
