According to the authors of the Pharmacographia Indica the Sanskrit names are probably applicable to this as well as the next species (S. dulcamara) ; whilst the vernacular names with the exception, perhaps of the
Hindi, are only applicable perhaps to S. nigrum.
Habitat : — Common throughout India.
An erect nearly glabrous annual with much branched and somewhat angular stems. Leaves petioled, l-3½in. long, ovate or oblong, sinuate-toothed or lobed, petioles about ¾in. long. Flowers small, drooping, subumbellate on rather stout extra- axillary peduncles ¼-¾in. long ; pedicels 5-8, slender, ⅛in. long. Calyx ⅛in. long, 5-toothed, glabrous or sparsely puberulous ; teeth small, oblong, obtuse. Corolla white, rarely purple, ½in. in diam., divided to below the middle into 5 oblong subacute lobes, glabrous outside. Filaments hairy at the base. Ovary globose, glabrous, style hairy towards the base. Berry ¼in. in diam., supported by the saucer-shaped calyx, black, less often red or yellow, smooth and shining. Seeds yellow, minutely pitted. (Duthie.)
Use : — In Hindu medicine, the berries of this plant are considered tonic, diuretic and useful in anasarca and heart diseases (U. C. Dutt.)
In Bengal, the berries are employed in fever, diarrhœa, eye diseases, hydrophobia, &c. (T. N. Mukerji).
In the U. P., the juice is used in blood-spitting, piles, dysentery, &c.
In Bombay, the juice is given in doses of six to eight ounces in the treatment of chronic enlargement of liver, and is considered a valuable alterative (Dymock).
The juice acts as a hydragogue, cathartic and diuretic (Dymock). The syrup acts as an expectorant and diaphoretic (S. Arjun).
A syrup prepared from the plant is used as a cooling drink in fevers (S. Arjun ). The Chinese employ the juice of the leaves to alleviate the pain in inflammation of the kidneys and bladder and in virulent gonorrhœa (Rumphius.)
Dr. Moodeen Sheriff reports having used with advantage a
