remedy for toothache and aphthae. The whole plant, rubbed up with butter, is applied to reduce ©edematous tumors. A
preparation is made from the ashes of the burnt plant to remove dandruff from the hair. The leaves are applied to abscesses ; and an oil is obtained from the root which is used to anoint the head in erysipelas (Ainslie and Rheede).
354. I, trifoliate, Linn., h.f.b.l, ii. 96.
Syn.:—I. prostrata, Willd., Roxb, 583.
Vern. : — The seeds — Wekaria (Bomb.).
Habitat : — From the Himalayas throughout India.
Use : — The seeds are prescribed along with other mucilaginous drugs as a restorative (Dymock).
355. I. paucifolia Delile., h.f.b.l, ii. 97, Roxb. 583.
Vern : — Kuttukkarchammathi (Tarn.).
Habitat : — The plains of Sind and the upper Gangetic basin.
A shrub, reaching 4-6ft., with copious woody branches which, along with the sub-coriaceous leaves, are argento-canescent. Leaflets 3-5, alternate, firm, oblanceolate oblong, ½-1 in. long, sometimes solitary on the branches ; petiole short, but distinct. Racemes short-peduncled, 20-50-flowered, reaching 3-4 in. long. Calyx silvery 1/24 in.; teeth lanceolate, cuspidate, as long as the tube. Corolla red, 3-4-times the Calyx, thinly silvery externally. Pod ½-¾ in. long, glaucous, distinctly torulose, 6-8-seeded, recurved.
Parts used : — The root and stem.
Uses : — It is considered an antidote to poisons of all kinds. The root boiled in milk is used as a purgative, and a decoction of the stem as a gargle in mercurial salivation (Watt.)
356. I. tinctoria, Linn, h.f.b.l, ii. 99, Roxb. 585.
Sans. : — Nila.
Vern. :— Nil (H. B.) ; Averi (Tam.) ; Ameri (Malay.) ; Neelie (Tel.); Nil guli (Bomb.); Jil, nil (Sind.).
Eng. : — Common indigo.
Habitat :— Cultivated throughout India, for Indigo.
This is the universally cultivated Indigo.
