Indian Medicinal Plants/Natural Order Cupuliferæ

Syn. :~ Betula Bhojpatra, Wall.

Sans. : — Bhurjapatra.

Vern. :— Bhejpattra (H.) ; Burj, Burzal, bhuj phurz (Pb. ) ; Shák or shág, pad, phatak, takpa (Ladak, Lahoul, Piti, and Kanawar); Phuspat (Nepal); Bhurjpatra, bhojpatra (Bomb., Cutch and Guzerat).

Habitat : — Temperate Himalaya, from Kashmir to Sikkim and Bhotan.

A moderate-sized, deciduous tree, often gregarious, 40-50 feet or even 60ft., or shrub at high altitudes. Bark smooth, shining, reddish-white or white, with white, horizontally oblong lenticels, ​ the outer bark consisting of distinct, thin, papery layers, peeling off in broad, horizontal rolls. In these layers, the lenticels appear as pink, elongated, oblong patches. Wood white, with pinkish tinge, tough, even-grained, moderately hard. (Gamble). Youngest shoots and leaves pubescent. Pith oblong. Leaves 2-3in. ovate, acuminate, irregularly serrate, glandular beneath, slightly hairy along midrib and nerves, which latter are in 8-12 pair. Petiole ½-⅔in. Bracts of male spikes ciliate, stipulate ; anther-cells glabrous, save with a few hair at the tips. Female spikes solitary, stout ; bracts pubescent, l-2in. by ½-⅛in. diam. Nuts with a narrow wing ; bracts in fruit coriaceous, deeply, 3- lobed, broader than the wings of the nut.

Uses : — The decoction of the bark is used as a wash in otorrhœa and poisoned wounds. (U. C. Dutt ) The infusion of the bark is used as a carminative ; it is prescribed also in hysteria. It has also certain aromatic and antiseptic properties.

Vern. : — Banj, ban or bán (Kumaon) ; Sila supári (Kashmir) ; Bán, ban, rin, rinj, vari, banj, máru, kharshu, shindar, kharpata serei, daghun-bán (Pb.)

Habitat: — Temperate Himalaya; from the Salt Range and Murree to East Nepal.

An evergreen tree, attaining 50-80ft. and trunk 4-12ft. in girth ; bark dark-grey, rough with cracks and fissures. Leaves 3-6 by l-2in., oblong or ovate-oblong or ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, mucronate-serrate, tough and coriaceous, young pinkish and woolly all over, mature dark-green and glabrous above, densely white or grey, rarely brownish, tomentose beneath ; lateral nerves 12-20 pairs, straight, parallel ; base acute ; petiole ½-¾in. long. Male spikes slender, drooping, 2-4in. long, often much interrupted ; perianth 4-5-lobed ; anthers glabrous. Female flowers axillary, sessile, solitary or clustered on current year's shoots ; styles linear-clavate, spreading. Acorn generally solitary, usually on current year's shoots ; cup at first enclosing the nut, glabrate, rough, woody ; ​ nut 4/5in. long, conico-ovoid, canescent, brown when ripe. (Kanjilal.)

Uses:— The acorns form the medicine known in the Punjab bazars as balút. The} 7 are given as a diuretic in gonorrhœa, and also as an astringent in indigestion, diarrhœa especially of children, and in asthma. Before being administered, they are usually buried in the earth to remove their bitter principle, then washed and lastly ground ; dose 3 mâshâs. (Stewart.)

Vern. : — Shalshi, pharat-singhali, budgrat (Nepal); Búk (Lepcha).

Habitat: — Eastern Himalaya; from Nepal to Bhotan, the Nâga and Dâphla Hills, Manipur.

A very large, evergreen tree ; wood very hard and heavy. Buds silky, young shoots with tawny, deciduous pubescence. Leaves elongate-elliptic, acute at both ends, sharply serrate to near the base, upper side glabrous, underside glaucous, with deciduous pubesence while young ; blade 8-18, petiole 1-2 in long, secondary nerves 18-25 pairs, straight, impressed on the upper, very prominent on the under-side. Flowers sessile on short spikes ; peduncles thick ; cup very large, up to 3in. across, woody, with 10 thin, broad, loose lamellae, enclosing the greater part of the nut. (Brandis.)

Use : — The bark and acorns are used in medicine. (Watt.)

Vern. : — Bara katus, Sungre katus (Nepal) ; Hlosiri, Kashok (Lepcha).

Habitat: — Sikkim ; Manipur.

A large ever- green tree, leaves elliptic-lanceolate, long- acuminate, glabrous above, underside pale, with minute stellate hairs ; mid-rib and nerves glabrous ; blade 5-8, petiole ⅓in ; secondly nerves 8-10 pairs, impressed above, arching and anastomosing under the margin ; spikes sometimes androgynous. Cups l½-2in. across, always confluent, forming large, irregularly shaped masses, more than half the nut enclosed in the cup. Nuts glabrous, shining, nearly globose. (Brandis.) ​Use : — In Sikkim the bark and acorns are used medicinally as astringents. (Watt.)

Vern. : — Urni (Jhelum) ; Winri, wiri, warawi, wúriya, thangi, thankoli (Kashmir and Chamba) ; Jangi (Chenab) ; Shurli, sharoli, ban pálu, geh, ban dilla (Sutlej) ; Kapási, bhotia badám (Kumaon) ; Shirol (Garwhal) ; Jhangi (Kangra).

Habitat: — Western Temperate Himalaya from Kashmir to Kumaon.

A moderate, rigid, gregarious tree, 40-50ft. high. Bark thin, dark. The scales of the bark often detaching themselves at the base and exfoliating upwards. Wood pinkish-white, moderately hard. Leaf-buds short, rounded in hoary, ovate scales. Leaves' 3-6in. long, glabrous when mature, rather membranous, ovate or obovate, shortly acuminate ; base cordate, unequally or doubly serrate, often slightly lobed, 5-8 by 2½-6in. Lateral nerves 10-12 pair, straight, generally pubescent beneath, each terminating in a long tooth. Petiole 1-1½in. glandular-pubescent. Stipules 3/5in. long, lanceolate, hairy. Flowers monœcious. Male flowers one in each bract ; perianth 0. Stamens usually 4, filaments forked, separating the anther-cells. Spikes fascicled, l-2in. long, cylindrical, drooping. Female flowers in pairs in the upper bracts of a small, many-bracteate bud- like spike. Perianth superior. Ovary 2-celled, 2-ovuled. Nuts 1-seeded. ½-7/10in- long ; somewhat compressed, hard, deep-brown, 2-3 together in a ribbed, coriaceous, double-involucre. (Kanjilal).

Uses : — The nuts are not uncommon in drag-seller's shops, being considered tonic. (Watt.)

​PLATE No. 911.

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