'Dioscorides affirmed that the seeds being drunk are a remedy for infants that have their sinews drawn together, and for those that be bitten of serpents ; and we find in a record of old Saxon remedies, that this wort, if hung upon a man's neck, it setteth snakes to flight' [Sowerby's Eng. Bot., V., p. 5].
680. Sassurea obvallata, Wall., h.f.b.l, iii. 365.
Vern. : — Bergandu tongur (Kumaon) ; Kanwal, Birm-kanwal (Pb.)
Habitat : — Western Himalaya, from Kashmir to Sikkim.
A simple pubescent, or glabrate herb. Root very thick, crowned with blackened remanis of petioles. Stem simple, leafy, 6-18in., as thick as a little finger or less, terminated by the curved bladdery veined, translucent leaves, which form a pale head 3-6in. diam. Leaves 4-8in., glabrous, obtuse toothed, lower petioled, elongate-obovate, cauline, sessile, ½-amplexicaul oblong concave, floral cymbiform membranous, enclosing 2-6 sessile or shortly peduncled glabrous heads. Heads ½-¾ in. diam., hemispheric. Corolla ½in.; anther-tails very short, laciniate. Achenes ovoid, flattened, glabrous, ribbed. Pappus brown, ⅓in., outer bristles scabrid or 0.
Use :— The root is used for application to bruises and cuts (Duthie).
681. S. candicans, Clarke, h.f.b.l, iii. 373.
Vern. : — Batula ; Kaliziri (Pb.).
Habitat: — Subtropical and Temperate Western India and the Himalaya, from the Salt Range, Hazârâ, and Kashmir to Bhotan.
Herbs, with 2-5 ft. stem, simple below. Inflorescence cottony. Leaves sometimes 18 by 5in., oblong or ovate-oblong, entire or sinuate-toothed, or lobulate at the base, or lyrate-pinnatifid, glabrous or pubescent above, cottony or white tomentose, rarely glabrous beneath. Heads 1-1½in. diam, long, peduncles in large, open, panicled corymbs. Involucre-bracts, cottony or pubescent, lanceolate, acuminate. Receptacle bristles long. Corolla upward of ½in. long, anther-tails lacerate. Achenes 1/5in.,
