# Indian Medicinal Plants/Natural Order Sapotaceæ

N. 0. SAPOTACEÆ.
720. Achras sapota, Linn., h.f.b.i., iii. 534.
Vern. :— Chikku (the fruit) (Bomb.) ; Sapotá (H. and B.) ; Shimai-eluppai (Tam.) ; Sima-ippa (Tel.) ; Kumpole (Kan.) ; Chakchakoti-kajhár (Duk.).
Habitat : — Cultivated in many parts of India.
A native of Tropical America, much cultivated in Indian gardens, most excellent luscious fruit, which should be eaten when slightly overripe, as says Gamble, in which I quite agree with him (K. R. K.). C. B. Clarke says that fruiting branchlets, communicated by Mr. Cantley from Perak, of a tree 80-100 ft. high, yielded gutta plentifully. The wood is reddish brown, hard, with radial groups of pores in oblique patches, fine medullary rays and irregular narrow, wavy, transverse lines (Gamble). Leaves crowded near the ends of thick branchlets, shining, elliptic-lanceolate ; blade 3-6in. Petiole slender, ½-1in. long. Flowers 6-merous, whitish ; stamens 6, alternately with lanceolate staminodes, resembling the corolla-lobes. Ovary 12-celled. Fruit as large as an orange, rind rough, brown, thin. Seeds 5 or more, some undeveloped ones sharp as needles. The fruit must, therefore, be carefully eaten, to avoid the sharp needle-like abortive seeds, at times about 1/6in. long, hurting the mouth or getting into the throat. Seeds black, shining, about ½in. long when mature.
Uses : — In the West Indies, the seeds are known to be aperient and diuretic, and the bark is reputed to be tonic and febrifuge. In the Concan, the fruit soaked in melted butter all ​ night and eaten in the morning, is considered to be an excellent preventive against biliousness and febrile attacks (Dymock).
From the kernels, are obtained. —
(A.) A glucoside, Sapotin C$_{29}$H$^{52}$O$_{20}$ , microscopic crystals in appearance, burning taste, laevo-rotatory ([d] D— 321 in alcoholic solution), soluble in water easily ; in cold alcohol sparingly, easier in hot ; insoluble in benzene, ether, chloroform. It melts at 240° with decomposition. With dilute sulphuric acid, it yields sugar and Saporetin C$_{17}$H$_{32}$O$_{10}$which latter is soluble in alcohol and chloroform, insoluble in water and ether.
(B.) An alkaloid, Sapotine bitter in taste, insoluble in water and alkali, but soluble in alcohol, ether and chloroform.
The bark contains two resins, and a large proportion of Sapotaunic acid which is the cause of its astringency.
It is a gutta percha yielding plant. From it Chiclegum is obtained. The sample examined lost 2.33 per cent, when dried at 110° and gave 4.85 per cent, ash ; water dissolved 17, alcohol 60, acetone 62, ether 76, and chloroform 77 per cent, of the drug.
Nothing is present that volatilises with steam. Water extracts a gum mixed with a little proteid substance, which was removed by means of tannic acid ; the gum forms 9 per cent, of the drug ; it is insoluble in alcohol, optically inactive, yields 3.76 per cent, ash, and gives the a-napthol sulphuric acid reaction and the reactions for furfuraldedhyde, No oxydase is present.
The drug was then extracted repeatedly with boiling alcohol ; from the extracts, the alban crystallised on cooling, From the last extracts, v-chiclalban, C$_{15}$H$_{28}$0, was obtained in small quantity, equal to 0.5 per cent, of the drug ; it is crystalline, and melts at 86-87°. The earlier extracts contained a small quantity, equal to 0.2 per cent, of the drug, of a substance sparingly soluble in alcohol at 50° and melting at 219-221° ; this is a-chiclalban, C$_{24}$H$_{40}$O. The bulk of the alban consists of B.-chiclalban, which crystallises in a variety of forms, and seems, when purest to form prismatic crystals or round plates which melt at 158° and have the composition C$_{13}$H$_{20}$O. No cinnamic or other acid was obtained by boiling either the drug or B-chiclalban with alcoholic potassium hydroxide ; from the alban, however, a neutral crystalline substance, C$_{24}$H$_{44}$0, melting at 152-153°, was isolated. By concentrating the alcoholic mother-liquor from the alban and pouring it into very dilute hydrochloric acid, chicla fluavil, C$_{10}$H$_{20}$O or C$_{10}$H$_{13}$O, was precipitated as a sticky, amorphous substance, which melts at 65-66° when dry ; the yield was 1.5 per cent, of the drug.
The residual drug was dissolved in chloroform and the solution poured into alcohol, when chicla gutta, C$_{10}$H$_{16}$ , was precipitated; this was crystallised from ether. From the chloroform-alcoholic mother-liquor, chiclalbanan separated gradually in small amount; after recrystallising from a mixture of alcohol and ether, it melts at 55-57°.
It is noteworthy that, as with gutta-percha and balata, the fluavil has the lowest, the albanan the highest, percentage of carbon, the albans being intermediate. J. Ch. 8. LXXXVIII. pt. 2, p. 685. ​
721. Bassia latifolia, Roxb., h.f.b.l, iii. 544 ; Roxb. 411.
Sans. : — Madhuka.
Vern. : — Mahwá, mahuá, mahula, maul (H. and B.) ; Moha (Uriya) ; Mandukum (Kó1.) ; Matkom (Santal.) ; Mahurá (Bhil) ; Irúp, irrip, irhu (Gond.) ; Mohu (Kurku) ; Mová, mahua, mohá (Bom.); Mahuda or Mahura (Guz.) ; Mowda, ránácha-moóhácha-jháda, ránácha-ippécha-jháda, moho, maodá, mohá (Mar.) ; Illupi, elupa, kát illipi, káthi-iluppai, káttu-iluppai, káttu-irrupai (Tam.) ; Ippi, ippa, yeppa, adavi-ippe-chettu (Tel.) ; Hogue, hippe, kádu-ippe-gida (Kan.) ; Poonam, káttrippa banam (Mala).
Eng. : — The Butter or Mahuá tree.
Habitat : — Throughout Central India, from West Bengal to the Western Ghauts ; also wild in the Kumaon Terai.
A large, evergreen tree, says Gamble ; " Deciduous, " says Kanjilal ; usually with a short trunk and rounded crown, young shoots, young leaves, stipules and pedicels tawny tomentose. Bark ½in. thick grey, or blackish with vertical cracks, the inner portion reddish or milky, exfoliating in thin scales. Wood from hard to very hard ; sap wood large ; heartwood reddish-brown. Branches many, spreading, forming a close symmetrical head. Leaves firm, clustered near ends of branches, 5-9in. long, elliptic or oblong elliptic ; main lateral nerves 10-12 pair, base cuneate, petiole 1-1½in. long. Stipules subulate, pubescent, soon falling.. Flowers in dense clusters at the ends of branches, pedicels l-2in. long. Calyx ⅝in., divided nearly to the base, coriaceous, segments 4-5, densely tomentose outside. Corolla ⅔in. long, cream-coloured, fleshy, juicy, sweet, early caducous, tube ovoid, lobes short, erect, 7-4, usually 8-9, stamens 24-26, anthers subsessile, hairy at the back, inserted in 3 series inside the Calyx-tube. Ovary hirsute ; style lin. or more in length, hairy at the base. Berry ovoid, fleshy, green, l-2in. long, 1-4-seeded, seeds ½-lin. long.
Use : — The flowers yield a distilled spirit, which is described by Sushruta as heating, astringent, tonic and appetising. The flowers are regarded as cooling, tonic and nutritive. They ​ enter into the composition of several mixtures of a cooling and demulcent character (Dutt. Mat. Med. of the Hindus).
The fruit is eaten ; yields, when expressed, a thick oil which is eaten and is also used to adultrate ghee, says Kanjilal.
The oil is much valued by the hill-tribes in the treatment of skin diseases.
The leaves are boiled in water, and given as a cure for several diseases ; they make a good embrocation (Watt).
The bark is used in decoction as an astringent and tonic. (Irvine). It is sometimes used as a remedy for rheumatic affections. Voigt says, it is rubbed on the body as a cure for itch.
The dried flowers are used as a fomentation, in cases of orchitis for their sedative effect.
The flowers are used in coughs, in the form of a decoction. The medicinal properties attributed to this plant are stimulant, demulcent, and emollient, heating, astringent, tonic, and nutritive. The seeds yield, on expression, a thick concrete oil, which is recommended to be applied to the head in cephalalgia.
The spirit distilled from the flowers of B. latifolia (Baia or Mahwa Spirit) has a strong smoky odour, somewhat resembling Irish whiskey, and rather a pungent fetid flavour, which, however, disappears with age. The freshly distilled spirit proves very deleterious, exciting gastric irritation, and other unpleasant effects (See Dr. Gibson in Hooker's Journ. Botany, vol. v., p. 90). Sub- Assistant-Surgeon Odoy Chund Dutt reports having used the weaker (diluted ?) spirit extensively ; and in his opinion it is less injurious to the digestive system than rum, more resembling beer in its effects on the constitution, and nutrition of the body. This view is coincident with that of Dr. W. Wright. It is evidently a powerful diffusible stimulant, and, when matured by age, may be used as such, when brandy and other agents of the same class are not available. The residuum or cake left after the expression of the oil (Ilúpai púnak, Tam.), is employed as an emetic. Some cases of poisoning by Stramonium, in which it was so employed, are given by Dr. J. Shortt (Madras Quart. Med. Journ., vol. vi., p. 286). It appears to act efficiently in this character (Ph. Ind.) ​ Sugar of Mahiwa flowers.— Previous investigators have stated that the dried flowers contain about 60 per cent, of a readily fermentable, partially crystallisable sugar, of which 4-17 per cent, is described as cane sugar. E. O. Von Lippmann has examined samples of this sugar extracted from the freshly fallen flowers by means of alcohol. They consisted of an upper layer of pale yellow faintly acid syrup and about two-thirds of very hard crystals resembling sugar candy. The syrupy portion was found to consist of invert sugar, containing only traces of cane sugar, whilst the crystals were also identified as pure, crystallised invert sugar. This observation is of interest, as it appears to be the first record of the occurrence of invert sugar in such large and well-defined crystals. Whether the flower, originally contained cane sugar or invert sugar is a question which can only be decided by analyses on the spot. (J. S. Ch. I. May 81, 1902. p. 713).
722. B. longifolia, Linn., h.f.b.l, iii. 544; Roxb 410.
Vern. : — Moha, mohva (Hind.) ; Mohuva (Beng.) ; Darakhte-gulchakane (Pers.) ; Kat illupi. elupa (Tam.) ; Ippi, yeppa, pinna (Tel.) ; Mahwa, mohi (Bom.) ; Mahuda (Cutch) ; Mohácha-jháda, ippicha-jháda (Mar.); Mahudá, mová-nu-jháda (Guj.) ; Hippe, ippigridá (Kan.) ; Ellupi, irippa (Mal.).
Eng. : — The Mowa tree,
Habitat : — Western Peninsula, on the Ghâts from the Konkan southwards. Common in the moist forests of the Konkan and North Kanara ; often along the banks of rivers and nâlâs ; takes the place of B. latifolia, in the moist forests of the southern parts of the Bombay Presidency. (Talbot).
A large evergreen tree, young 50ft. high. Bark dark, yellowish grey, thick, slightly furrowed. Wood red, moderately hard, close grained. All young parts rusty- tomentose. Leaves clustered towards the ends of the branches. Leaves 4-5 by l½in., mature glabrescent, lanceolate at both ends. Primary nerves 12 on each side, distinct, secondary distinct. Petiole 1-1½in. Stipules linear, pedicels 1-2, tomentose, in dense clusters near the ends of the branches. Outer Calyx-segments nearly glabrous, inner finely tomentose (Brandis). Calyx-lobes ⅓-½in., ovate, subacute. Corolla ⅔in.; lobes usually six, scarcely ⅓ the length of the tube. Filaments hairy. Anthers 16, 2-serrate, subsessile, tips 3-toothed. The short mucronation of the ​ connective between the tips of the two cells giving this appearance more strongly than is indicated in the figure.
Fruit velvety when young, obliquely ovoid, 2-seeded, 1½in, long. The sweet fleshy flowers dried and eaten.
Uses : — It is astringent and emollient. Like B. latifolia, it yields two important products— a fixed concrete oil and a spirit, the former obtained by expression from the seeds, the latter by distillation from the flowers. The oil said to be good for skin diseases, flowers said to act as a mild laxative.
The gummy juice is used in rheumatism by Vaids. The bark in decoction as an astringent and emollient, and also as a remedy in itch (Ainslie.)
Economical uses of Bassia longifolia by Revd. Dr. John of Tranquebar.
1. The oil pressed from the ripe fruit is used by the natives as common lamp oil, who cannot afford to buy cocoanut oil. It is thicker, burns longer but dimmer, smokes a little, and gives some disagreeable smell which common people do not mind.
2. It is a principal ingredient in making the country soap, and keeps therefore often the same price with the cocoanut oil.
3. It is to the common people a substitute in place of ghee and cocoanut oil in their curries and other dishes. They make cakes of it, and many of the poor get their livelihood by selling these sweet oil cakes.
4. It is used to heal different out-breakings, such as the itch, &c.
5. The cake left after the oil is expressed, is used for washing the head, and is carried as a small article of trade to those countries where these trees are not to be found.
6. The flowers which fall in May are gathered by the common people, dried in the sun, roasted and eaten as good food. They are also bruised and boiled to a jelly, and made into small balls, which they sell or exchange for fish, rice, and various sorts of small grain.
7. The skin is taken off from the ripe fruit as well as the unripe, and after throwing away the unripe kernel, boiled to a jelly, and eaten with salt and capsicum.
8. The leaves are boiled with water, and given as a medicine in several diseases to both men and cattle.
9. The milk of the green fruit and of the tender bark is given also as a medicine.
10. The bark is used to cure the itch.
11. The wood is as hard and durable as Teak wood, but not so easily worked, nor is it procurable of such a length for beams and planks, except on clay-ground, where it grows to a considerable height, but in such a soil does not produce so many branches, and is less fruitful than when in a sandy or mixed soil, which is the best for them. In a sandy soil the branches shoot out nearer to the ground to a great circumference, and give more fruit. These ​ trees require but a little attention and watering during the first two or three years in the dry season, and being of so great use, we have here whole plantations of them on high and sandy grounds, where no other fruit tree will grow.
12. We may still add, that the owls, squirrels, lizards, country dogs and jackals, take a share in the flowers, but the report is that the latter, especially in the time of blossom, are apt to grow mad by too much feeding on them. (Roxburgh's Flora Indica pp. 410-411 Clarke's edition).
The kernels of B. latifolia yield to solvents 41 to 46 per cent, of a yellowish fat melting at 24°— 30°, and those of B. longifolia contain 54 per cent, or more. The acid values sometimes reach 70. The constants are : Specific gravity at 100° , 0.86 ; to 0.88 ; saponification value, 186—194 ; iodine value, 58 to 64 ; Reichert-Meissl value, 1*6 to 1*7. Fatty acids, 93*7 to 94*9 per cent., melting at 42° to 48° ; unsaponifiable matter, 1.4 to 2.2 per cent. The oil consists of olein and palmitin and probably stearin.
723. B. butyracea, Roxb., h.f.b.l, iii. 546 ; Roxb. 411.
Vern. :— Chiúra, chaiura, bhulel (Kumaun) ; Cheuli (Oudh); Phalwara (Hind.); Churi (Nepal) ; Yet, yelpote (Lepcha).
Eng. :— Indian Butter tree.
Habitat: — Sub-tropical Himalaya, from Kumaun to Bhotan.
A large deciduous tree, attaining 70ft. height, usually with a short trunk and rounded crown. Bractlets, petioles, under-side of leaves, stipules and pedicels, with fine silkly hairs. Bark ½in thick, dark-grey. Wood light brown, bard. Leaves 13 by 6in., or smaller, firm, crowded near ends of branches, obovate, or obovate-oblong, elliptic or oblong-elliptic, sub-obtuse, base rhomboid, glabrous when mature or flocculose beneath ; primary nerves 15-20 pairs. Petiole l-l¼in., stipules 1/5in., ovate-lanceolate, caducous. Pedicels l-2in., very many, crowded among the subterminal leaves. Flowers in dense clusters at the ends of branches, drooping, tomentose. Calyx coriaceous, segments 4 or 5, ⅓-½in. ovate, densely rusty tomentose inside. Corolla ¾in. long, creamcoloured, fleshy, sweet, early caducous ; lobes 8-10, spreading, short, erect. Stamens 30-40. says C. B. Clarke ; 24-26, says Brandis ; inserted at the mouth of the corolla tube ; filaments glabrous, as long as the anthers. Anthers ​ exserted, linear-lanceolate, subsessile, hairy at the back. Ovary 7-9-celled. Berry 1 by ⅔in., ovoid, smooth, green, fleshy, 1-2 or 3-seeded. Seeds ½-lin. long.
Uses : -It is used as an ointment in cases of rheumatism. The butter is an excellent emollient for chapped hands, &c, during the winter months. It seems deserving of further attention (Watt, I. 406).
The kernels yield from 60 to 65 per cent, of fat. The fat has a whitish colour and agreeable odour, and is used for edible purposes. It has been recommended for the preparation of ointments. The constants are : Specific gravity at 100°, 0.86—0.89 ; melting point, 39° ; saponification value, 190 to 194; iodine value, 41 to 42; Reichert-Meissl value, 0-44 to 1.25. Fatty acids about 95 per cent., melting at 51° to 53°. The fat consists of the glycerides of oleic and palmitic acids and a small amount of phytosterol.
724. Mimusops Elengi, Linn., h.f.b.i., iii. 548; Roxb. 318.
Sans. : — Vakula.
Vern : — Bakul (Beng.) ; Mólsarí (Hind.) ; Ghólsarí, bhólsarí (Dec.) ; Mogadam (Tam.) ; Pogada-mánu (Tel.); Elangi (Ma.) ; Bakuli, ovali (Bom.). Buckhul ; ranjal (Kan.).
Habitat: — Deccan and Malay Peninsulas, frequently cultivated in North India.
A large, ornamental, glabrous, evergreen tree, 50ft. Bark dark-grey, rough, deeply cracked, with vertical or transverse fissures; wood very hard, close and even-grained. Sapwood reddish-brown ; heart wood dark-red. Leaves 3½ by 1¾ in., elliptic, shortly acuminate, base rhomboid, nerves slender, numerously horizontal, scattered, shining. Petioles fin., youngest shoots, pedicels and outside of the calyx, with very short rusty pubescence. Flowers white, very fragrant, nearly lin., across, pedicles ½-⅔in. Calyx segments 8. Corolla deciduous, leaves in 2 series, 16-20, narrow, lanceolate stamens 8, usually ; staminodes 8, short, densely hairy on the back, acute, serrate or subentire. Berry 1-seeded, ¾-lin., ovoid, yellow. The fragrant smell of the Corolla persistent long after it dries. ​ Uses : — Chakradatta mentions the astringent properties of the unripe fruit, and recommends it to be chewed for the purpose of fixing loose teeth. He also mentions a decoction of the astringent bark as a useful gargle in diseases of the gums and teeth. In the Concan, a similar use is made of the unripe fruit, and the fruit and flowers, along with other astringents, are used to prepare a lotion for sores and wounds.
The author of the Makhzan says that the unripe fruit and seeds have powerful astringent properties, and that the decoction of the bark is useful as an astringent in discharges from the mucous membranes of the bladder and urethra, and also as a gargle in relaxation of the gums, &c. He mentions the use of a snuff made from the dried and powdered flowers in a disease called Ahwah, common in Bengal. The symptoms of this disease are strong fever, headache, and pain in the neck, shoulders and other parts of the body. The powdered flowers induce a copious defluxion from the nose and relieve the pain in the head (Dymock).
The bruised seeds are applied locally within the anus of children in cases of constipation (K. L. Dey).
The bark of this tree, much cultivated for the sake of its fragrant flowers, possesses, according to Horsfield (Asiat. Journ., vol. vii., p. 262), astringent tonic properties. It is much esteemed by the Javanese, and is stated by the same authority to have proved useful in fevers, and as a general tonic. According to Dr. Bholanath Bose, a decoction of the bark forms a good gargle in salivation. A water distilled from the flowers is in use amongst the natives of Southern India, both as a stimulant medicine and as a perfume (Ph. Inch).
The pulp of the ripe fruit is sweetish and astringent and has been successfully used in curing chronic dysentery (Surgeon-Major B. Gupta, in Watt's Dictionary).
The kernel is of a yellowish-brown colour, it has a very bitter taste, and is enclosed in a strong, glossy husk. The shells form 64 per cent, of the fruits. On extraction with ether, the kernels yielded 18.47 per cent, of a yellowish-brown viscid oil. The expressed oil has alight yellowish-white colour, and stearin deposits on standing. The oil is used for cooking, burning and in medicine. ​ The following physical and chemical characters were obtained of the fat : Specific gravity at 100°, 0.9129 ; acid value, 45.5 ; saponification value, 213.9 ; Reichert-Meissl value, 10.6 ; titration number of insoluble volatile acids, 1/10 KOH 0.68 ; iodine value, 66.5 ; unsaponifiable matter, 1.56. Butyro-refractometer at 25° C, Degrees 73.5; at 40°, 67. Fatty acids: per cent. 89.4; melting point, 35° ; iodine value, 68.11 ; neutralisation value, 202.06. Mean molecular weight, 277.6. (A. K. Menon.)
725 — M. hexandra, Roxb., h.f.b.l, iii. 549 ; Roxb. 318.
Syn. : — M. indica, A. Do.
Sans. : — Rájádani.
Vern. : — Khirni (H.) ; Khirkhejur (B.) ; Ranjana, ráini (M.) Rájan ; Kherni (Bomb.) ; Palla (Tam.).
Habitat: — Deccan Peninsula, extending North to Guzerat, Banda and the Circars.
A large or small, evergreen tree, sometimes shrub only, often gregarious. Trunk erect, the branches forming a large shady head. Bark grey, smooth, when young, often studded with branchlets and clusters of leaves, which degenerate into hard, conical, thorn-like protuberances. Wood red, very hard, close and even-grained ; in Ceylon, dark, vinous-red, purplish-black (Brown), (Gamble). Leaves wholly glabrous, shining, generally crowded at the ends of branchlets, ovate-oblong, obtuse, emarginate, 2-4in. long, l½-2in. broad, base cuneate or rhomboid, coriaceous, nerves obscure. Petiole ¼-¾in., pedicels 2-5 together, nearly glabrous, ¼-⅓in., clusters sub-terminal and along the branches, often dense. Flowers ¼in. across, white or pale-yellow. Calyx-lobes 6, 1/6-1/5in., elliptic, subacute, obscurely tomentose, or nearly glabrous. Corolla ¼in. long. Stamens 6-8, anthers acute, as long as the filaments. Sumi nodes 6-8, serrate or lobed, glabrous, frequently bifid. Ovary 1 2-celled, hairy. Berry ½in. long., ¼in. broad. 1-sometimes, 2- seeded ; yellow when ripe, edible, rather sticky. Seeds yield an oil, says Gamble.
Uses: — The bark is used medicinally and is exactly similar to that of M. elengi. " The bark is much sought after for medicinal purposes and trees are often, greatly injured thereby." (Duthie). ​ In the Concan, the milky juice, made into a paste with the leaves of Cassia fistula and seeds of Calophyllum inophyllum, is applied to boils. The juice of a Loranthus, which grows upon the tree, is extracted by heat and given with long-pepper in cramp (Dymock).
The oil is used for medicinal purposes. It is yellowish and non-drying and deposits white fats at 30°. The specific gravity at 40° is 0.905, and the acid value, 25. The constants are : saponification value, 195.4; iodine value, 72.5 ; Reichert-Meissl value, 0.17. Fatty aoirls and unsaponifiable, 95; melting point, 38°; neutralisation value, 200.5 ; iodine value, 75.6.
726. M. Kauki, Linn, h.f.b.l, iii. 549 ; Roxb. 318.
Sans : — Ksheerika.
Vern. : — Ksheerni (B) ; Kheeri, Chirui (H.) ; Manilkara (Mal.) ; Adoma (Goa) ; Kanki (Mar.).
Habitat : — Occasionally planted as far west as Hoshiarpore, Multan, Lahore, and Eminabad, near Gujranwala. Native of Burma and Malacca, grows in Ratnagiri and Ghatkoper.
A large tree. Leaves 4 by 2in., obtuse or scarcely acute, obovate-elliptic, or obovate, densely silky, white beneath, base cuneate, nerves obscure. Petiole l-l½in. Pedicels lin., densely clustered near the ends of the branches, cinnamoneous-tomentose. Calyx-lobes 6, ¼in., ovate, subacute, brown, tomentose. Corolla ½in. long, lobes narrow acute. Stamens 6-8. Staminodes 6 8, serrate or lobed. Berry ¾-lin., globose smooth. Seeds usually 3-4.
Uses : — The seeds made into powder are used in ophthalmia, and also employed internally as a tonic and febrifuge ; and the root is officinal at Lahore (Stewart). The seeds are considered hot and moist, and are prescribed in leprosy, thirst, delirium and disorders of the many secretions. They are also considered anthelmintic (Baden- Powell).
The fruit is very sweet and pleasant. The milk of the tree is used in inflammation of ear and conjunctivitis, &c. (Dr. Emerson).
The root and bark are believed to be astringent and given in infantile diarrhœa, after being ground with water and mixed ​with honey. The leaves, boiled in gingelly oil and added to the pulverised bark, are considered a good remedy in Beri-beri. The bark is astringent, and yeilds a kind of gummy fluid. Leaves, ground and mixed with turmeric and ginger, are used as cataplasms for tumors (abscesses ?) (Drury).
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