Sirisha (B); Sirasa, shirrus, suri, (Sind); Vaghe, kat vaghe (Tam.) ; Dira san (Tel.) ; Chapot siris (Santal) ; Tinia (Uriya) ; Kalbaghi, bengha, dirisana, goddalmnse (Kan) ; Chichola, mothâsiras (Mar.) ; Doli, saras (Panch mahals) ; Pilo sarshio (Guz.).
Habitat : — From tropical Himalayas throughout India.
A large, deciduous, unarmed tree. Bark brownish grey, rough, with numerous short irregular cracks. Wood hard ; sap- wood large, white or yellowish ; heart-wood dark-brown, streaked with lighter or darker streaks. Leaves with glabrous or downy rachises and a gland near the base of the main petiole ; pinnæ 4-8, with or without a gland between the lowest. Leaflets short-stalked, rigidly sub-coriaceous, obliquely-oblong, l½in. long, glabrous or finely grey, downy ; mid-rib prominent ; reticulate veins, nearly as prominent as secondary nerves. Flower- heads many, large, white, fragrant, on penduncles, 2-4in. long, in fascicles of 2-4 from the upper axils, forming short corymbose racemes. Flowers 1½in. long to the extremity of stamens ; pedicels very nearly as long as Calyx. Calyx half the length of Corolla. Corolla greenish yellow, fin. ; teeth short, lanceolate. Style filiform. Pods thin, straw- coloured strap-shaped, firm, yellow-brown, dehiscent, 8-12 by l-2in., 6-10-seeded.
Parts used : — The seeds, bark, flowers and leaves.
Uses : — The seeds form part of an anjan used for ophthalmic diseases (Stewart). The oil extracted from them is considered useful in leprosy. The bark is applied to injuries to the eye, (Madden.)
The bark and seeds are astringent, given in piles, diarrhœa, etc. The flowers are used as a cooling medicine, and also externally applied in boils, eruptions and swellings. The leaves useful in ophthalmia (Baden-Powell's Punj. Products, p. 345).
" Powdered seeds have been successfully administered in cases of scrofulous enlargement of the glands. A paste of powdered seeds and water is useful as a local application at the same time (Asst-Surg. Gholam Nabi). " The powder of the root-bark is used to strengthen the gums when they are spongy and ulcerative (Native-Surgeon, R. Moodeliar, Madras).
