Page:Indian Medicinal Plants (Text Part 2).djvu/498
obtusely-toothed, scarcely half as long as the Corolla-tube- Corolla-tube funnel-shaped ; lateral segments oblong, upper rather longer, ovate convex. Lip ½in. broad, orbicular, deflexed obscurely 3-lobed, emarginate. Capsule ovoid-trigonous, smooth, dehiscing irregularly. Seeds oblong, aril lanceolate, white.
Uses : — The fresh root is considered to be cooling and diuretic, it checks leucorrhœal and gonorrhœal discharges and purifies the blood. The juice of the leaves is given in dropsy. (Rheede.) The rhizomes possess aromatic, stimulant and carminative properties. Employed as a stomachic, and also applied to bruises and sprains. The root is chewed to correct a sticky taste in the mouth ; it is also an ingredient in some of the strengthening conserves which are taken by women to remove weakness after childbirth. In colds it is given in decoction with long pepper, cinnamon and honey, and the pounded root applied as a paste to the body. (Dymock.)
Zedoary contains, according to Bucholz (Repert. Pharm. xx„ 376), volatile oil, a bitter soft resin, a bitter extractive matter, gum, starch, &c. The oil is turbid, yellowish-white and viscid, has a camphoraceous taste and smell, and consists of two oils, one lighter, the other heavier than water. Trotumsdorff obtained from the root a substance which he called Zedoarin, but did not further describe it. A proximate analysis afforded : —
| Essential oil, resin, curcumin, &c | 3.79 |
| Resins, sugar | 0.90 |
| Gum and organic acids | 15.22 |
| Starch | 17.20 |
| Crude fibre | 10.92 |
| Ash | 6.06 |
| Moisture | 10.31 |
| Albuminoids, Arabins, &c | 35.60 |
| Total | 100.00 |
(Pharmacog. Ind. III. 402-403.)
1234. C. cœsia, Roxb., h.f.b.i., vi. 212. Roxb. 9.
Vern. : — Kálo-holud, nil-kautha (B.) ; Káli-halada(Mar.); Narkachúra (Bom.) ; Nar-kachúr, kalí-haldi (H.) ; Mánupasupú (Tel.).
Habitat : — Bengal.