N. 0. AR0IDEJ5. 
1343 
Veni. : — Kacliu, arvi, ghuiyan, cham-kure-ka-gaddah (Hind.); 
Kochu, ashu-kochu, bun-kochu, guri. (Beng.) ; Dzu (culti- 
vated) and kirth (wild), (Angami Naga) ; Rab alu, kacbaln, 
gandiali, arbi, kasauri gagli, gbuyan (PI).) ; Alu, Kasalu 
(Mar.) ; Saru(Uriya) ; Shimak-kizliangu, sbima-ikilangu (Tam.) ; 
ebama-kura, chama gadda, ebama-dumpa, chema (Tel); 
Chempa-kizhanna, kaladi (Mai.) ; avi-gadde, keshavanga-gadde, 
(Kan.). 
Habitat : — Throughout the hotter parts of India, wild as well 
as cultivated. Ceylon. 
A tall, coarse herb. Root-stock tuberous, about Gin. in dia- 
meter, short oi' elongating underground for several feet, giving 
off long sheathed bulbilliferous runners from the base. Leaves 
6-16in., dark green, sometimes clouded with black, bifid half way 
from the base to the insertion of the petiole, basal lobes rounded, 
mid-rib beneath very stout, penniveined, with 5-7 veins radiating 
from the top of the petiole, which is 3-4ft. long, green or violet, 
sheath narrow. Spathes solitary or fascicled, stoutly peduncled, 
8-12in. long, erect, narrow, green, tube 2-3in., narrowly ellipsoid, 
limb erect, lanceolate, acuminate, convolute, caudate, acuminate. 
(J. 1). Hooker). Spadix about half as long as the spathe, slender, 
appendage l-3in., cylindric or subulate; male and female 
inflorescence each about liin. long, separated by an interval 
covered with flat oblong neuters. (Trimen.) Every part edible. 
Uses : — The pressed juice of the petioles is styptic, and may 
be used to arrest arterial hosmorrhage. Dr. Bholanath Bose 
reports very highly in favour of this property, and states that the 
wound heals by first intention after its application. ( Pharm . hid.) 
It is sometimes used in earache and otorrhoea, and also as an 
external stimulant and rubefacient. “The juice expressed from 
the leaf stalks is used with salt as an absorbent in cases of 
inflamed glands and buboes. The juice of the corm of this 
species is used in cases of alopcecia. Internally, it acts as a 
laxative, and is used in cases of piles and congestion of the 
portal system, also as an antidote to the stings of wasps and 
other insects.” (Dr. Thornton in Watt’s Die.). 
A microscopic examination of a section of a tuber revealed the presence 
