Vern. : — Bhuijám (B.) ; Kada met (Santal.) ; Nála.niredu (Tel.). Gantu Bhârangi (Madras).
A small inconspicuous undershrub, produced unusually from woody rootstocks after the jungle fires. Stem hardly any. Leaves simple sessile, 4 by 2-3in., cuneate or obovate, serrate pubescent, mature pubescent on the nerves which are in 5 pair. Corymbs 1½in. diam., pubescent, somewhat dense; peduncles O-1½in. Flowers greenish white, 4-lobed. Calyx 1/10in closely pubescent, lobes ovate obtuse, sub-segmently 5- toothed. Corolla 1/6in., hairy in the throat, 4-lobed, obscurely two-lipped. Drupe ¼in. diam., globose, black when ripe, with one pyrene. Roots about as thick as a crowquill with numerous almost globular woody knots. " A good example of a plant belonging to a genus mostly represented by trees or shrubs, and which has become permanently dwarfed by continuous exposure to periodical fires" (Duthie).
Use : — A preparation of the root is given internally for rheumatism by the Santals (Revd. A Campbell .
This plant is frequently confounded with Clerodendron serratura, Spreng., the roots and stems of which are sold under the name of Bharangi. In Sanskrit, Bharangi bears the names of Bhargi, Brahmayashtika, Hangika, Bringa-ja and Vardhaka, and is described in the Nighantas as hob, bitter, pungent, and digestive; a remover of dropsy, cough, phlegm, asthma, fever, and reheumatism. The juice of the root is given with the juice of ginger and warm water in asthma, and it enters into the composition of several compound decoctions for diseases of the lungs. A confection called Bhargi-guda is prepared with a decoction of the root, and the ten drugs called Dasaraula, chebulic myrobalans, treacle, and aromatics. An oil prepared with the root is recommended for external application in the marasmus of children (Chakradatta).
The properties of P. herbacea agree much more nearly with those attributed to Bharangi in the Nighantas, than do those of Clerodendron serratum, although the latter plant is at the present time in use as Bharangi through- out the greater part of India, Dutt attributes the drug to C. Siphonanthus, but the samples we obtained from Bengal consisted of the stems of C serratum. Bombay was formerly supplied from the Circars with P. herbacea, but now uses C. serratum.
Chemical composition.— The constituents of this root resemble to a great extent those fouud in P. integrifolia. An orange-brown acid resin soluble in ether, alcohol and alkaline solutions, and traces of an alkaloid are the most important. There is a quantity of starch in the root, and an entire absence of astrigency (Pharmacographia Tndica II, pp. 68-70),
