Page:Indian Medicinal Plants (Text Part 2).djvu/431

N. 0. URTICACEÆ. 1181

Leaves 3-4in. diam., petioled, cordate, toothed, upper ovate, lower 3-5-lobed. Bracts and bracteoles scarious, covered with resinous glands. Male flowers :— ¼in. diam. ; panicles 3-5in. across. Female flowers :— In heads, ½in. diam., yellow ; styles purple ; fruiting l½in. diam. ; scales orbicular.

Uses : — It is officinal in both the British and Indian Pharmacopœias.

Syn. : — C. indica, Lamk.

Eng. -. — Indian hemp.

Sans. : — Ganja, vajradru, bhangah, vijayá.

Vern. : — Gánje-ká-pér, kinnab, bháng (H.) ; gánjá, bháng, siddhí (B.) ; Bhang, charas (Pb.) ; Bháng (Mar.) ; Gánja-uhed, korkkar-muli, gánja-ilai, kalpam (Tam.) ; Ganjari-chettu, bangiaku, kalpam-chettu, ganjah (Tel.) ; Tsjerucansjava, kancháva-chetti (Mal.).

Habitat : — Throughout India, wild in the N.-W. Himalaya, cultivated elsewhere.

A tall, erect, annual herb. Stem 4-8ft., Leaves alternate or the lower opposite, upper 1-3-lower 5-11-partite, serrate, palmati-nerved, 4-8in. diam. Stipules lateral. Flowers green, small, axillary, diœcious ; males fascicled in short, pendulous panicles. Female flowers crowded under leafy convolute bracts. Male flowers : — Sepals 5, imbricate, stamens 5, erect in bud. Pistillode 0. Female flowers : — Perianth hyaline, embracing the ovary or 0. Ovary sessile ; style central ; arms 2, filiform, caducous ; ovule pendulous. Achene compressed, crustaceous. Seed flattened, albumen unilateral, fleshy. Embryo curved, cotyledons broad, thick, sub-equal, radicle upcurved incumbent.

Uses : —Officinal in the Indian as well as British Pharmacopœias, and its uses are too well-known to be detailed here.

It should be used fresh. It deteriorates on keeping. Hence those imported from Europe not efficacious, and so, the necessity of making its preparations in India.

Hemp seeds yield from 25 to 30 per cent, of a light green or greenish-yellow oil becoming brownish-yellow on keeping. The specific gravity is