Page:Indian Medicinal Plants (Text Part 2).djvu/508

(Mar.); dr. rt.=sûnt, fr. rt. = âdû (Guz.); dr. rt. = shukku, fr. rt. = inji (Tam.); Pl. = allam, dr. rt.=sonti, allam, fr. rt = allam (Tel.) ; dr. rt.— vana-sunthi, fr. rt.=hasísunthi (Kan.) ; dr. rt.= chukka, fr. rt. — inchi (Mal.); Pl. = khyen-seing, dr. rt.=ginsi-khiáv, fr. rt. =gin sin (Bur.) ; dr. rt. = velicha-inguru, fr. rt.= amu-inguru (Sing.) ; dr. rt.= zanjabîl, zanjabîle-yâbis, fr. rt.= zanjabile-ratab (Ar.) dr. rt. = zanjabîl-e-khushk, fr. rt.= zanjabîl-e-tar (Per.).

Habitat :— Cultivated throughout India.

Root-stock bi-ennial, bearing many, sessile, aromatic tubers, Leafy stems 3-4ft. Leaves 6-3 by lin., tapering gradually to the point, lanceolate dark-green, glabrous beneath. Spike 2-3 by lin., oblong, cylindric. Peduncle ½-lft. Bracts about lin., greenish, sub-orbicular, cuspidate. Corolla segments lanceolate, greenish, subequal, under one inch long. Lip small, purplish-black, shorter than the corolla-segments. Midlobe orbicular, lateral ovate. Stamens dark-purple, as long as the lip. " Very rarely flowers, and has never seen seed." (Roxburgh.)

Uses :— Ginger is officinal in the British as well as Indian Pharmacopœia. Its uses are too well known to be detailed here.

Sans. : — Sthula-granthi.

Vern. :-.— Mahâbari bach; Nar-kachur (H. & B.); Kachur, narkachur (Pb.) ; Kathu-inshi-kua (Mal.).

Habitat : — Widely cultivated throughout India.

Herbs. Root-stock very large, tuberous, pale-yellow within, hard, bi-annual, root- fibres vermiform. Leafy stem 5-6ft., about ½in. diam., cylindric, glabrous, annual. Leaves 10-12 by 2-3in , sessile, oblong-lanceolate or oblanceolate, acuminate, glabrous; base narrowed, ligule, ½-¾in. long, truncate membranous. Flowering stem 12-18in., stout, usually flexuous, clothed with long appressed obtuse sheaths, with sometimes rudimentary blades. Spikes 3-4in. by 2in. diam., conico-