A shrub, 4-6ft. high, with twiggy, woody, thinly silvery, branches. Leaves l-2in. long, leaflets 9-13, large, obovate-oblong, opposite, membranous, turning blackish when dried ; petiole ½-1in. Racemes lax, nearly sessile ;
2-4in. long. Flowers small. Calyx 1/24in., silvery, teeth as long as the tube. Corolla ⅛-1/6in., reddish-yellow. Pod ¾-1in. long, 1/12in. thick, glabrescent, nearly straight, scarcely at all recurved, 8-12-seeded, not torulose.
Uses :-— Both Hindus and Mahomedans consider the plant to have attenuant properties ; they prescribe it in whooping cough, affections of the lungs and kidneys, palpitation of the heart, enlargement of the spleen or liver, and dropsy. Indigo applied to the navel of children is said to act upon the bowels; it is applied to the hypogastrium to promote the action of the bladder. A poultice or plaster of the leaves is recommended in various skin affections, and is used as a stimulating application to old ulcers, hæmorrhoids, &c. Indigo is applied to the bites and stings of venomous insects and reptiles to relieve the pain, also to burns and scalds. Ainslie notices the use of the root by the Hindus in hepatitis (Dymock.)
The extract is given in epilepsy and nervous disorders.
It is also used in bronchitis, and as an ointment in sores (Watt).
An infusion of the root is given as an antidote in cases of poisoning by arsenic. (Surg. Thomas in Watt's Dictionary).
357. I. pulchella, Roxb. h.f.b.i., ii. 101, Roxb. 585, 586.
Vern. :— Sakena, hakua (H.) ; Uterr, jhurpur (Kol.); Darehuter, lili-bichi (Santal) ; Hikpi (Lepcha) ; Girhul (Kharwar) ; Baroli (Mar.) ; Togri (Bhil.) ; Chimnâti ; Nirda (Mahableshwar.)
Habitat : — Throughout the Himalayan tract and the hills of India.
A shrub, 4-6 ft. high, the trunk reaching the thickness of a man's leg. Branches sulcate, thinly coated with grey adpressed hairs at first, soon glabrescent. Leaves short-petioled, 3-6in. long ; leaflets opposite, obtuse, often emarginate, usually ¾-1in. long, pale green above, glaucous below, thinly coated, with short
