Bracts hairy. Calyx-lobes 1/10in., wide, ovate or very obscure. Corolla campanulate, l-l½in. by ¾-lin. Lobes 5, often unequal. Stamens 10, alternately longer. Ovary woolly, 7-9-celled. Capsule 1in, long, cylindric, curved, longitudinally ribbed. Seeds ellipsoid. Testa scarcely lax, except produced at the end.
Use: — The young leaves are poisonous. They are also medicinal, and applied to the forehead for headache Dr. Stewart).
The honey of the wild bee is said, in Sikkim, to be poisonous at the flowering time of this species (Watt.)
The flowers which are sour to taste are eaten and made into a preserve, says Kanjilal.
707. R. campanulatum, Don., h.f.b.i,, iii. 466.
Vern. : — Gaggar (Kashmir); Chimul (Kumaun) ; Sarngar, shinwala, shargar, simrung (Himalayan names) ; Cherialu (Nepal).
Habitat : — Alpine Himalaya, from Kashmir to Bhotan.
A moderate-sized, evergreen shrub, 6-1 6ft , with thin grey bark. Leaves 3-5in. long, elliptic or elliptic-oblong, rounded at both ends, crowded at the ends of the branches, mucronate, coriaceous, glabours and finely reticulate above, with a dense cinnamon colour tomentum, concealing the nerves beneath ; midrib prominent. Flowers large and showy, whitish pink, purple or lilac, in lax terminal corymbs ; pedicels as long as Corolla-tube ; bracts lin., broad — oblong, silky. Calyx-teeth broadly triangular, very small, scarcely 1/12in. Corolla campanulate, 1-1 by 2/5-1in. ; lobes 5. Stamens 10. Ovary 5-9-celled, glabrous. Style persistent. Capsules cylindrical, seeds linear-oblong, compressed.
Uses:— The leaves are poisonous to goats. Mixed with tobacco, it is made into a medicinal snuff, useful in colds and hemicrania. They are also used in chronic rheumatism, syphilis and sciatica. The dried twigs and wood are used in Nepal as a medicine in phthisis and chronic fevers, (Watt).
708. R. lepidotum, Wall, h.f.b.i., iii. 471.
Vern. : — Tsaluma, tsuma (Bhutia) ; Talis fur (Northern Ind.) ; Taliori (Simla).
