bázárs, and used as an aphrodisiac (Atkinson).
N. B.— According to Murray (Plants and Drugs of Sind), the fruit of Polygommi aviculare is known as Bijband or Endrani in Sind. It is probable that seed of several species of Polygonum and Rumex are collected and sold as Bijband.
1071. R. dentatus, Linn., h.f.b.i., v. 59.
Habitat : — Plains of India, from Assam and Sylhet to the Indus, ascending the Himalaya to 1,000 ft., Sind and Concan.
An erect annual, l-2ft. high. Stems grooved, glabrous, usually tinged with red. Leaves 3-4in. long, oblong, obtuse, glabrous, base rounded or cordate, petioles of radical leaves up to 2½in. long. Flowers shortly pedicelled, 2-sexual, arranged in distinct leafy or leafless whorls. Perianth ⅛-1/5in. long ; inner segments broadly ovate, reticulate-veined, much enlarged in fruit and with an ovoid-oblong smooth tubercle on its back, margins irregularly toothed or pectinate ; the teeth numerous, short, straight, not hooked. Nutlets 1/10in. long, acutely 3-gonous or almost winged. (Duthie.)
Use : — The root yields a dye, and is used as an astringent application in cutaneous disorders (Watt).
1072, R. nepalensis, Spreng., h.f.b.i., v. 60.
Habitat : — Temperate Himalaya, from Bhotan to Kashmir ; Khasia Mts., Western Peninsula ; on the Ghats.
Tall herbs. Roots with tuberous fibres. Stem 2-4ft, stout, erect. Branches stiff, spreading. Radical leaves often 6-14 by 3-5in., undulate or not, large oblong, ovate-oblong or triangular-ovate, acute or obtuse, base widely or narrowly cordate, upper sessile or petioled, similar or with narrowed bases, or lanceolate. Flowers 2-sexual, in whorls forming long, nearly leafless, racemes. Fruiting sepals broadly ovate, fringed one thickend and forming an oblong tubercle.
Uses : — The tuberous roots are said to be sold in the bazars of Bengal under the name of Rewund Chíní as a substitute for rhubarb. They are given in constipation, in doses of 10 gr. to 120 gr. (Irvine).
Oswald Hesse has isolated from the root three new substances, one of which, rumicin, is isomeric with, and closely resembles, chrysophanic acid, but is not identical with it.
