Indian Medicinal Plants/Natural Order Orchideæ

N. 0. ORCHIDEÆ.

1224. Dendrobium Macraei, Lindl., H. F.B.I. , v. 714.

Vern. : — Joivanti Jiban, Sag (H.) ; Jibai, Jibanti(B.j ; Jivanti (M. and G.).

Habitat :— Sikkim Himalaya, Khasia hills, Deccan, Kanara, Nilgiri Hills.

Rootstock creeping annulate. Stems pendulous 2-3ft., branches ending in fusiform pseudo bulbs 2-2½in. long. Leaves 4-8in., linear-oblong, obtuse, sessile. Flowers 2-3, shortly peduncled, ¾-lin. long, white ; pedicels ¾-lin. long. Sepals and petals erecto-patent linear-lanceolate acute, mentum short conic. Bracts basal, sheathing ; side-lobes of lip oblong obtuse, sprinkled with red ; mid-lobe variable, small with 2 diverging lobules crenulate and crisped, disk between the side-lobes with 2 fleshy crests.

Uses : — This plant is the Jivanti of Sanskrit writers. In the Nighantas it bears the synonyms of Jivani, " life-giving," Jiva "life-giving," Jivaniya "supporting life," Jiva-śreshtha, Sâka- śrestha " best of herbs," and Yasas-vini " renowned." It is also spoken of as Jiva-bhadra and Mangalaya "auspicious," and is described as cold, mucilaginous, light, strengthening, and tridosha-ghna, i.e., a remedy for the disorder of the three humors of the body, bile, blood and phlegm, known to Hindu physicians as tridosha. The whole plant is used in decoction along with other drags supposed to have similar properties ; it must not be confounded with Jivaka, one of the Ashtavarga, which is a drug unknown to the modern Hindus. D. Macraei does not appear to have been noticed by any of the European writers upon Indian Materia Medica. ( Pharmacogr Ind. Ill 390.)

The authors of the Pharmacographia Indica have isolated from the dried roots and stems, an alkaloid which they have provisionally named Jibantine and two acids A and B Jibantic acid.

1225. D. chlorops Lindl,, h.f.b.l, v. 719.

Vern. : — Márávar (Malabar).

Habitat: — The Deccan peninsula, from the Concan to Malabar. " In the Thana District I have found it growing on branches of mango trees in the rainy season." (K.R.K.).

Stems tufted, 12-18in. long, usually slender. Leaves on first year's shoots 2-4 by ¼-½in.lanceolate, acute, the second year's shoots leafless and flower-bearing. Flowers ¾in. in diam., with a primrose-like scent when first expanded, in lateral and terminal racemes 3-6in. long ; pedicels and ovary together reaching ½in. long in flower, slender ; bracts below the pedicels ⅛in. long, ovate-lanceolate, acute. Sepals cream-colored ; lateral sepals ⅓in. long by ⅛in. broad at the base, oblong-lanceolate, subacute ; dorsal sepal ⅓in. long, less than ⅛in. broad, oblanceolate, obtuse. Mentum conical, 1/5in. long. Petals ⅜ by 1/5in., cream-colored, obovate. Lip flat, rather more than ⅜in. long; side lobes small, rounded, greenish; mid-lobe large, subquadrate, cream-colored ; disk pubescent with a channelled ridge. Column greenish : anther white. Fruit not seen. (Cooke.)

Uses : — The entire plant, recently gathered, chiefly its juice, when given internally, cures all kinds of stomach ache, excites bile and acts as a laxative to the intestines. (Rheede, translated from Latin by K.R.K.)

1226. Eulophia campestris, Wall., H.F.B.I., vi. 4.

Vern. :— Salib-misri (H. B. and Pb.) ; Bongataini (Santal) ; Hatti-paila (Nepal) ; Sálum ( Guz.) ; Sung-misri (Per.) ; Habitat : — Plains of India ; from the Punjab to Oudh, Bengal, Chittagong, and the Deccan.

Roots tuberous ; hypogæal. Leaves elliptic-lanceolate. Scape 6-18in., stout or slender, unbranched, from a deformed tuber. Sheaths sub-suppressed, acute. Flowers many, subsecund appearing before the leaves. Racemes many-fid. Sepals ½-⅔in., linear-lanceolate, acute 5-7-nerved, slightly attached to the base of the lip, acute or acuminate, yellow or green, striped with pink. Petals oblanceolate, 3-5-nerved, narrower. Lip as long as the sepals, cuneate-obovate or oblong ; side-lobes short, mid-lobe orbicular, usually purple. Spur conical. Disk with 3 central nerves lamellate at base and tubercled and spinulose on the mid-lobe. Column rather slender. Capsule fin., ellipsoid.

Use :— It furnishes Salep which is esteemed as a tonic and aphrodisiac.

1227. E. nuda Lindl., h.f.b.l, vi. 5.

Vern. : — Ambarkand (H.).

Habitat : — Tropical Himalaya, from Nepal eastwards, Assam, the Khasia Hills, and Mainpur ; the Deccan Peninsula, from the Concan southwards.

Roots tuberous hypogæal ; tall. Tuber large. Leaves 10-14in., elliptic-lanceolate, very variable in breadth. Scape l-3ft., stout. Sheath appressed ; bracts scarcely equalling the ovary. Sepals lin. Men turn rounded or conical. Lip shorter than the sepals. Capsule l½in., fusiform. Flowers large, green or purple.

Uses : — It furnishes salep. Sir George Watt, in his work " Commercial Products of India," p. 963, writes regarding Salep, that

The article obtained in the Indian bazars has been ascertained to be chiefly the product of several species of Eulophia, vis., E. campestris, E. nuda and E. virens (mankand or Lahore salep of the shops), though probably also from the species of a few other genera, and is produced on the hills of Afghanistan, Baluchistan, Persia and Bokhara ; but the Nilgiri hills and Ceylon are said to furnish part of the Indian supply. The salep of European commerce is procured chiefly from the Levaut, and to some extent from Germany, etc., derived mainly from the tubers of Orchis mascula. The tubers are dug up after the plant has flowered, and the plump, firm ones are washed and set aside, and subsequently strung on threads, scalded, and dried in the sun or by artificial heat. The commercial article is met with in three forms— palmate, large ovoid, and small ovoid.

Various substitutes are sold in India. The kind known as Royal Salep (bâdshah salab) has been identified as being derived from a species of Allium (A. Macleanii, Baker Bot Mag., t. 6707; Aitchison, Annals of Botany,, 1889-90, iii., 149-55) : while the tuberous roots of Asparagus adsendens (West Himalaya and Punjab) and of A. racemosus (Decean) are the white musali, Curculigo orchioides, the black musali and certain species of Habenaria are also so used. Besides these substitutes, an imitation salep, made of potatoes and gum (known as banawati salab), is largely manufactured for the Indian market.

A considerable Trans-frontier trade exists in salep from Afghanistan, Persia, Baluchistan and Bokhara into India. A little trade is also done in collecting and drying in India itself, mostly Kashmir and Lahoul, the tubers of Orchis latifolia, but the bulk of the ordinary article met with in the country is imported by sea into Bombay from Persia and the Levant.

1228. Vanda spathulata, Spreng., h.f.b.l. vi 50.

Vern. : — Ponnampon-maraiva (Malay).

Habitat : — Western Peninsula, from Malabar to Travancore, and Ceylon.

Stem about 1ft., leafy, thicker than a swan's quill, rooting upwards ; roots very stout, vermiform ; internodes lin., green ; leaves 2-4 by l¼-l½in., lorate, keeled, recurved, flat, tip rounded emarginate or 2-lobed, lower leaves sometimes smaller, ovate, sheath green, speckled with red ; peduncle from the middle or lower nodes, 12-18in., erect, robust, with a few distant, short, acute sheaths, green, speckled with red ; raceme terminal, 4-5-fid., rhachis stout, bracts broadly ovate, acuminate, pedicel with ovary 1-l½in., flower l¼-l½in. broad ; sepal and petal obovate-oblong, tips rounded ; lip longer than the sepal, side-lobes small, oblong, erect, mid-lobe much larger, shortly clawed, triangular-ovate, tip contracted, obtuse, spur very short, conical; column very short, rostellum obscure; anther depressed, truncate, pollinia oblong, strap short, spatulate, gland large, 2-fid ; fruit 1½in., obovoid, erect, ribs thick, pedicel lin., very stout. A striking species, the long erect peduncles, carrying the flowers high above the bushes over which the plant climbs. (Trimen.)

Uses : — It is supposed on the Malabar Coast to temper the bile and abate phrenzy and the golden yellow flowers, reduced to powder, are given in consumption, asthma, and mania. (Ainslie.)

1229. V. Roxburghii, Br. h.f.b.i., vi. 52.

Sans. :— Rásná, vandáka, nákuli, gandha-nákuli.

Vern. :— Rásná, nái (H. & B.) ; Dare banki (Santal) ; Rásná (M. & Guz.) ; Kanapa chettu badanike, neardáu, chitteduru (Tel.).

Habitat .-—Bengal, Behar and westwards to Gnzerat and the Concan, and southwards to Travancore.

Stem epiphytic 2-3ft., climbing. Leaves praemorse, 6-8in. narrow, complicate. Peduncles 6-8in., 6-10-fid. Racemes sub-erect. Flowers l½-2in. diam., tesselated with brown. Sepals and petals subequal, clawed, obovate waved, yellowish-green or bluish, except from the clathrate brown nerves, margins white. Lip half as long as the sepals, or more. Side-lobes small acute, mid-lobe panduriform violet, tip dilated, truncate 2-lobed.

Uses : — Under the name of rásna the roots of this orchid and of Acampe papillosa, are indiscriminately used by native physicians.* " Rásná root is said to be fragrant, bitter and useful in rheumatism and allied disorders, in which it is prescribed in a variety of forms. It also enters into composition of several medicated oils for external application in rheumatism and diseases of the nervous system." (Hindu Mat Med.) It is also said to be a remedy for secondary syphilis. In Chutia Nagpur, the leaves pounded and made into a paste, are applied to the body during fever, and the juice is introduced into the aural meatus as a remedy for otitis media. (Campbell.)

* We have already stated (Vol. ii., p. 260) that we consider it probable that the original Râsna of the Arians was Inula Heleninm, as the two drugs, at the head of this article are notably deficient in the properties ascribed to Râsna by Sanskrit writers ; for instance, the plants under consideration cannot be described as Gandha-mula " having a strong smelling root." Dutt (Mat. Med.,

p. 258) remarks :— " Under the name of râsna, the roots of Vanda Roxburghii and Acampe papillosa are both indiscriminately used by native physicians. They are very similar in the appearance of their roots and leaves, though they differ much in their flowers and fruit. One native physician whom I consulted, pronounced both of these plants to be rasna ; when, however, I showed him the different flowers and fruit of the two species, he was puzzled." The description of the properties and uses of râsna will, we think, convince our readers that the original drug was not what is now used. (Pharmacogr. Ind. III. 392-393.)

1230, Saccolabium papillosum, Lindl, h.f.b.i., vi. 63.

Syn. : — Acampe papillosa, Lindley.

Sans. : — Rásná, gandhát, nákuli.

Vern. : — Kánbher, rásná (Mal.).

Habitat :— Bengal and the Lower Himalaya Mts., from SikWm eastwards, Assam, the Gangetic Delta and the Circars.

Stem2-3ft., elongate, epiphytic, branched, scan dent, as thick as a goose-quill. Leaves 4-5in., obliquely notched. Scape l-2in., internode, close. Flowers ⅔in. diam., bracts semi-circular, mid-lobe of the lip ovate, spur conical, pubescent within. Ovary very short. Capsule 1¼in., fusiform.

Use : — In Konkan, its roots are considered to have cooling properties. (Dymock.) It is said to be a specific for rheumatism. It is invariably given as a substitute for Sarsaparilla.

In the Concan, S. Wightianum, Hook, f., Rheede, Hort. Mai. xii.,t. 4, and S. præmorsum, Hook. f. Rheede, Hort. Mai. xii., t. 4, very similar plants, are used as Rasna. The Marathi peasants call these plants Kânbher. (Pharmacocp; Ind. Ill 393.)

PLATE No. 929