made by boiling the leaves and stems with sweet oil until all the water has been driven off, is used as a cleansing application to wounds (Dymock). A tooth paste made of the astringent leaves and common salt is used to strengthen the gums and in tooth-ache due to caries (Sakharam Arjun). Used in syphilitic affections as an alterative (Dr. Stewart, Cuttack). Useful in coughs and infantile diarrhoea (Dr. Thompson, Madras). The whole plant and especially the root, is much used as a diuretic and tonic medicine in Ceylon (Trimen).
922. B. noctiflora, Linn., h.f.b.l, iv. 484.
Habitat : — Neilgherry Mts., Ootacamund.
A small, very prickly undershrub ; branches pubescent upwards. Leaves ¾ by 1/6 in., obtuse or acute, grey pubescent at first ; petiole hardly any. Bracteoles ¼-¾ with simple spines or denticulate near the base. Flowers axillary solitary, 2 outer sepals ¾ by ⅓-½in., large ovate acute spinous-dentate sparsely pubescent, corolla tube 1 ¼ by ⅓in., elongate narrowly cylindric, pubescent without, lobes ⅓ in., round-ovated. Capsule ⅔in., 4-seeded.
Use. ' — Dr. Mootooswamy says that in Tanjore a decoction of this plant is used as an adjunct to, and substitute for, human milk.
923. B. cristata, Linn., h.f.b.l, iv. 488.
Syn. : — B. dichotoma, Roxb. 471. Sans. : — Jhinti.
Vern. : — Jhánti and Sada-jati (B.) ; Jhinli (Assam.) ; Tadrelu (Bazar name, bánsá siyáh) (Pb.) ; Gorp-jiba, kálá bánsa (N-.W. P.) ; Koileka (Uriya.)
Habitat. — N.-W. Himalaya, Sikkim, Khasia, Burma, Central India, Nilgiri. Common in Indian gardens ; often wild in and near Bombay and the Thana District (K. R K.)
A small, perennial, erect or diffuse undershrub. Branches adpressedly yellow, hairy. Leaves oblong or elliptic, acute, yellow, hairy beneath, 3-4 by lin. Petiole ⅛-½in. Spikes ovate, often compressed, dense, bracteoles ⅓-⅔in., linear-lanceolate, toothed. Outer sepals ¾in., toothed, softly hairy, glabrous, subspinescent.
