447. A. catechu, Willd., h.f.b.i., ii. 295.
Syn. : — Mimosa catechu.
Sans. : — Khadira i.e., the extract.
Vern. : — The extract Katthâ, khair (H.) ; Khayer (B.) ; Khoira, koir (Ass.) ; Khoiru (Uriya) ; Vodalai, vodalam, karangalli, bága, kasku kutti (Tam.) ; Kanchu, Podali-manu, khadirama (Tel.) ; Kadaram (Mala.) ; khair (Mar.)
Habitat : — Through the Himalayas, from the Punjab to Sikkim.
A moderate-sized, gregarious, thorny, deciduous tree. Bark dark grey or greyish— brown, rough, exfoliating in long, narrow stripes which remain hanging. Wood very hard ; sapwood yellowish white ; heartwood either dark or light red. Prickles twin-hooked infra-stipular, compressed, brown, shining. Branch-lets slender, thorny, glabrous, brown or purple, shining. Common petiole 3-4in. long, often armed with scattered prickles. Pinnæ 10-20 pair ; leaflets 30-50 pair, linear, imbricate, glabrous or pubescent, under ¼in. long, turning brown on drying. Flowers pale yellow, in cylindrical spikes ; petals three, the length of the Calyx. Pods thin, brown, shining, dehiscent strap-shaped, straight, dark-brown, shining, 5-6 — seeded, 2-3½ by ½-3/5in ; on a stalk 1/5-3/10in. long. Seeds 1/5in. diam., orbicular.
Uses : — Sanskrit writers consider it to be astringent, cooling and digestive, useful in relaxed conditions of the throat, mouth and gums, also in cough and diarrhœa. Externally, they use it as an astringent and cooling application to ulcers, boils and eruptions on the skin.
In the Concan, the juice of the fresh bark is given with assafœtida in hæmoptysis, and the flowering tops with cumin, milk and sugar, in gonorrhœa (DYMOCK).
Mixed with aromatics it is used by the natives in melancholia; powdered and mixed with water it is used in conjunctivitis (DR.EMERSON.)
Khersal or catechuic acid is found in cavities of the wood. It is valued in native practice as a remedy in chest affections. It is thought to promote expectoration.
