Page:Indian Medicinal Plants (Text Part 2).djvu/359

Vern. : — Pech (Sind) ; Kutilâl, kanthan, gândalûn, mæshúr, shalangrí níggí, channí zhi, kak, zosho (Pb.) ; Laghûne (Afg.).

Habitat: — Western Himalaya, from Garhwal westwards to Murree and the Sulaiman Range.

A small, much- branched shrub. Bark grey, with occasional, prominent, horizontal lenticels. Wood white, soft. Young shoots pubescent. Branches green-brown or purple, pubescent or glabrate. Leaves subsessile, lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, very variable, coriaceous ; midrib prominent, terminating in a sharp mucro. Flowers white, with a pink tinge, slightly seen to in terminal heads of 3-9 flowers. Perianth-tube ½in. long, outside densely tomentose, inside glabrous. Ovary pubescent. Fruit orange or scarlet, dry or rather fleshy, ¼-⅓in. long, ellipsoid.

Uses : — Aitchison, in his Flora of Kurram Valley, says that the roots of this plant are used internally, after boiling as a purgative. He, in another place, says : "Camels will not eat this shrub except when very hungry. It is poisonous, producing violent diarrhœa. I feel certain that much of the mortality of camels in the Kurram division was due to the prevalence of this shrub."

The bark and leaves are used in native medicine. The berries are eaten to induce nausea. Stewart refers to this plant as hurtful to camels, making the same observation as was made by Aitchison in Kurram He further says : " The bark is used by women in Kanâwar for washing their hair," and adds that it has been tried for paper-making. The bark and leaves are used in cutaneous affections and, on the Chenab, the leaves or an infusion are given for gonorrhœa and applied to abscesses. (Stewart.)

Syn. : — Daphne Viridiflora, Wall.

Habitat : — Chittagong, Tenasserim, Singapore. Distributed to China, Mauritius, Philippines.