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1176 INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS.

membranous, deeply 2-lipped ; segments concave, rounded. Stamens 2 ; filaments very short, free. Anthers scarlet. Female flowers solitary, shortly stalked ; spike thickened in fruit. Sepals 2-3, ovate, long-pointed ; ovary globose, 3-celled. Styles 3, free, short, recurved. Capsule ¼in. long, obscurely 3-lobed, fleshy when young. Seeds 3.

Use :— The whole tree is full of an acrid milk which, when applied to the skin, produces vesication. (Lisboa.)

Vern. : — Gangwa, geor, uguru, geria (B. ) ; Guna (Uriya ; Geva(Bom.); Chilla, tella-chettu (Tel.) ; Haro (Kan.).

Habitat : — Tidal forests on all the coasts of India.

An evergreen, small tree. Bark grey, smooth, shining, with numerous, round, prominent lenticels. Wood very soft, spongy. Branchlets rather thick, marked with leaf scars, smooth. Leaves 2½-3½in., alternate, oval, acute at base, shortly obtusely accuminate, obtuse, entire or obscurely crenate, rather thick ; veins except midrib very inconspicuous. Petiole ¾-lin., slender. Spikes androgynous ; male flowers at the base of spikes. Filaments much lengthening after flowering. Styles free, nearly to the base. Male flowers : — sepals minute, unequal, sub-serrulate. Capsule ⅔in. diam., ¼-⅓in. diam., very variable. (Trimen). Seeds glabrous, smooth. Flowers yellow, fragrant. Grows occasionally to 5ft. in girth and 40ft. in height.

Uses : — The milky juice, which exudes from the bark of this tree when green and fresh, is very acrid and injurious to the eyes, hence it is called " the blinding tree of India."

A decoction of the leaves is occasionally given by Hindu doctors in epilepsy, in the quantity of a quarter of a teacupful twice daily. This decoction is also used as an application to ulcers. (Ainslie.)

From the lower part of the trunk and roots, a soft, light, reddish suber is obtained, which is sold by the itinerant medicine men of Western India, under the name of Tejbul, as an aphrodisiacal tonic. (Pharmacogr. Ind. III. 315.)