Page:Indian Medicinal Plants (Text Part 2).djvu/534

broad base ; bracts ovate, acuminate ; perianth-segments sub-valvate, fleshy, outer 1/10in, long, lanceolate, inner rather smaller and narrower ; stamens 6 ; filaments much shorter than the segments. Anthers minute, didynamous, pistillode, 3-lobed ; female spikes axillary, so itary or fascicled, 4-10in. long, pendulous ; flowers sessile,1/5 in., glabrous ; perianth-segments as in the male. Staminodes 6, ovary, with 2 minute, ovate, acuminate bracts at the base ; style short, conical ; stigmas 3, very short, recurved. Fruit ⅔-lin. long, by ⅓-½in. broad, quadrately oblong, rather broader upwards ; top truncate or abruptly acute ; base truncate or subcordate. Seeds winged at the lower end only ; wing twice as long as the nucleus. (Trimen.)

Use : — In the form of a powder, the root is used as an external application for ulcers.

Vern. :— Zamin kand (H.); Piska (Santali); Kárandâ (Bomb.); Kau-karinda (Dec.) ; Kuru kanda (Chanda) ; Kathálu, patni-alu, mati-alu (Assam) ; Malaka-kaya-penda lam, chedu paddu dumpa (Tel.).

Habitat : — Sylhet, Chittagong and throughout the Western Ghats of Bombay.

It is a distinct species, the capsule being longer than broad, and the seeds winged at the base only ; the leaves are bright, shining, green ; and the transverse nerves rest within channels. The tubers are round, not larger than a man's fist. The stem bears numerous little tubers by which the plant may be propagated. The serial tubers also afford characters by which the varieties may be separately recognised. (Watt's Commercial Products of India, p. 493).

Uses :—The tubers are applied to ulcers after being dried and powdered. In the plains of the Punjab, the leaves are used medicinally and sold under the name of tatar puttr. Baillon alludes to the known febrifugal property of the leaves of certain species of Dioscorea, rendering them useful in the treatment of intermittent fevers. The flower spikes long, white, tender, and beautiful (female) are cooked and eaten as a savoury vegetable in the Thana district. (K. R. Kirtikar.)