Indian Medicinal Plants/Natural Order Thymelæaceæ

Syn. : — D. mucronata, Royle. ​ 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. ​ A glabrous shrub. Leaves 1-1½in., sub-opposite, oblong, thinly coriaceous, oblong or obovate-oblong, tip rounded, base caneate ; brown when dry ; nerves numerous, very slender. Flowers few, in terminal subsessile fascicles. Perianth ½in. long, glabrous, greenish-yellow. Disk-scales usually united in pairs. Fruit ¼in. long, ovoid, scarlet.

Uses : — In his Madagascar drugs, in Ph. J., 12th Aug., 1882., Mr. E. M. Holmes writes under Hazomafanu : " The pounded bark given in doses of 1 dram, mixed with salt and ginger, as a purgative. It probably possesses similar properties to Daphne Mezereun, and would be worthy of a trial as a substitute for it in the native materia medica." There is no record of the use of this drug in any part of India.

Vern. :— Ramethâ (M.) ; Râmi (Kan.); Naha (Sing.).

Habitat : — Deccan Peninsula ; on the Ghats from the Concan southwards, ascending to 7,000 ft. on the Nilghiris.

A large shrub or small tree. Bark grey, rather smooth, inner bark fibrous. Wood white or yellowish- white, hard, much-branched. Branchlets usually purplish. Leaves 2-3 by ¾-lin., sub-sessile, lanceolate-oblong, opposite or scattered, not coriaceous ; nerves very slender and oblique. Flowers thickly clothed with white or bluff, long, silky, villous hairs, in dense globose heads, l-2in. diam., supported by silky, involucral bracts, shorter than flowers. Perianth ½-¾in. long, yellow ; tube slender ; lobes 4-5, oblong, obtuse ; scales at its mouth very variable, alternating with the lobes, oblong or cordate, or bi-fid. Fruit dry, included in the lower persistent of the perianth (hollow receptacle).

Uses: — A powerful vesicant, but very uncertain in its action. A tooth-brush, made of the young branch, is said to cause falling out of the teeth (Sakharam Arjun). The bark is used to poison fish. In the Deccan the leaves are applied to contusions, swellings, etc. (B. D. Basu.) ​ Chem. com — The fresh bark was beaten into a paste in a mortar, and the mass divided and placed in two bottles, one containing ether and the other spirit of wine ; they were both shaken occasionally and the mixture allowed to macerate for 24 hours. The ether extract was filtered off and evaporated at a very low temperature until a thick, green, greasy substance was left. This was washed with warm water and a small piece placed upon the skin of the arm and spread, so as to cover a space the size of a rupee. In about two hours irritation of the skin was produced, and, on removing the covering of the arm, it was found that several small blisters had formed under the extract and extending beyond it. The alcoholic tincture was then removed by filtration and carefully evaporated under a gentle heat. The residue contained very little of the green-coloured resinous matter, but a large quantity of saccharine substance, which was non-crystalline. This extract was applied to the skin as in the previous experiment, but the application was followed by only a slight reddening due to the small amount of resin in the dried extract. The resin appears to be the source of the vesicating principle of the bark. It has an acid reaction in neutral solvents, is soluble in ammonia with a yellowish-brown colour, and is associated in the 'ethereal extract with a fatty base which facilitates its use as a blistering agent. (Pharmacog. Ind. III. 226.)

Sans. : — Agaru.

The Sanskrit agaru (a privative, and garu heavy— a name given to it from the circumstance that it does not fioat on water) is the root from which most of its vernacular names have been derived Laghu of lauha, another Sanskrit and Pali synonym, is supposed by some to be the origin of the expression Aloes-wood— and might therefore be accepted as denoting a light form that would float on water. (Watt's Comml. Prod.)

Vern. : — Agar (Hind.); Agaru, ugar (Beng.) ; Agare-hindi, ûd, aud, aude-hindi, ûde-hindi, agalugen (Arab.); Agre-hindí, agar (Pers.) ; Ũd, ûd farsi (Pb.); Agara hindiagara (Bomb.); Agar (Guj.); Agar, aggalichanda (Tam.) ; Krishna agaru, agui, Kashtamu (Tel.); Sasi, sachi, bislatn (Ass.).

Habitat :— Eastern Himalaya ; Bhotan ; Assam ; Khasia Mts.; Silhet and Tippera hills.

A tall, evergreen tree; young shoots, silky. Bark thin, tough and very even in surface and texture. " The bast," says Brandis, " when prepared, resembles parchment, and was used by the old King of Assam to write upon." Wood white, soft, even-grained, scented when fresh cut. In the interior of old trees ​are sometimes found irregular masses of harder, much darker-coloured-wood, with a honey-like scent, which constitute the Aloe or Eagle-wood of commerce. Leaves 2-3½in., thinly coriaceous, shining, caudate, acuminate; secondary nerves slender, with numerous, parallel, intermediate nerves ; petiole 1/10in. Flowers white, in many-fid ; sessile or shortly peduncled, silky umbels ; pedicels slender, ¼in. long. Perianth persistent in fruit, ¼in. long, silky without, densely villous within. Fruit thinly velvety, l½-2in. long, obovoid, thinly coriaceous.

Uses : — The fragrant resinous substance is considered cordial. It has been prescribed in gout and rheumatism. (Ainslie.) It is a delightful perfume, serviceable in vertigo and palsy, and the powder is useful as a restrainer of the fluxes and vomiting. In decoction, it is useful to allay thirst in fever. (Lourerio.) An essential oil prepared from the wood is also used medicinally. The wood is a preventive against fleas and lice, and in the form of a powder is rubbed into the skin and the clothes. In medicine, aloes wood is considered a stimulant and cordial in gout, rheumatism and paralysis, also as a stimulant astringent in diarrhœa and vomiting. It is taken internally as a tonic in doses of ten to sixty grains. Under the name of agalocki, Celsus ranks it among medicines which invigorate the nerves. The wood has long had a place in the Materia Medica of the Pharmacopœias of Europe, but it does not appear to possess any properties that call for its admission to modern local practice. (Pharmacog. Ind.)

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