# Indian Medicinal Plants/Natural Order Cruciferæ

N. O. CRUCIFERÆ.
70. Matthiola incana R. Br. h.f.b.i., i. 131.
Habitat:—Cultivated in the gardens of N. India.
Vern.:—Todri safed (Pb. Sind).
A shrubby, erect, hoary herb. Stem 1-2 ft.; branched. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, entire; rarely obscurely toothed Raceme 1-2 in. Flowers in May- June. 1-2 in. diam., purple to violet. Siliqua glandular, 2-4 in., in. broad. Seed orbicular, winged.
Hooker says that it is the "Queen-Stock" of English gardens where it is treated as an annual or biennial.
Parts used:—The seeds.
Uses:—The seeds are said to be aphrodisiac (Stewart). The seeds are of three kinds, yellow, red and white; used in infusion in cancer, are expectorant, mixed with wine given as an antidote to poisonous bites (Dr. Emerson)
71. Cheiranthus Chieri, Linn. h.f.b.i., i. 132.
The English wild "Wall-flower".
Habitat:—Not indigenous, but cultivated in gardens in North India.
Vern.:—Todri Surkh, Lahoori shuboo (H); Khueri (B).
Stem shrubby, erect, bushy, branched in a determinate manner; branches angular, leafy, hoary, with close bristly silvery hairs, chiefly directed downwards, like those on both sides of the leaves; though some point the contrary way, on the leaves as well as the siliqua, being perfectly distinct from others. Leaves crowded, stalked, lanceolate, acute, almost ​invariably entire; the lower-most, if any, more or less of a minute silvery hoariness especially at the back. Flowers corymbose, sweet-scented. Petals always of a uniform bright golden yellow, not stained with brown or blood-red as in the Garden Ch. Cheiri of England, though the calyx is purplish. Siliqua racemose, erect l|-2 in. long, covered with close hairs chiefly, if not altogether, pointing upwards. Style prominent, crowned with a cloven stigma. Seeds flat, with a narrow membranous, deciduous border at one side as well as the summit of each.
Parts used:—The flowers and seeds.
Uses:—The flowers, said to be cardiac and emmenagogue, are used in paralysis and impotence. The seed is also used as an aphrodisiac (Irvine).
The dried petals are much used in Upper India as an aromatic stimulant (O'Shaughnessy).
The flowers are employed to make a medicated oil; for this purpose they are boiled in olive oil; this prepared oil is much used for enemata (Year-Book of Pharmacy, 1874, p, 622).
By extracting the flowers with low-boiling solvents, a dark-coloured pasty extract is obtained which (after evaporation of the solvent and separation from fatty and waxy matters by strong alcohol) yields, on distillation with steam, a yellowish oil of unpleasant odour having a specific gravity of l.OOl, and distilling under 3 mm. pressure between 40° and 150°C. the yield is about 0*06 per cent- The alcoholic solution shows a feeble bluish fluorescence. A highly diluted alcoholic solution possesses the characteristic odour of the flowers. The oil is found to contain:— Compounds resembling mustard oil, ketones and aldehydes (having the odors of Violets and Hawthorn), nerol, geraniol, benzyl, linalool, indole, methyl antheranilate, acetic acid (probably in combination with benzyl alcohol and linalool), salicylic acid (probably as methyl salicylate) and traces of phenols and lactones. (J. Ch. S. July 15,1911, p. 829).
Cheiranthin is obtained by evaporating the alcoholic or aqueous extract of the leaves or seeds of the wall-flower, removing the inactive oils by light petroleum, treating with lead acetate, and finally salting out the glucoside with magnesium, Sodium or ammonium sulphate, when it separates in small yellow flakes, from which the salts may be removed by means of alcohol and ether. It may also be precipitated by tannin, and in either case still contains an active alkaloid which may be removed by shaking with ether or ethylic acetate. Cheiranthin brings about the characteristic rest is frogs. J. Ch. S. LXXVL, pt. I (1899), p. 378. ​ The physiological action of Cheiranthin resembles that of the digitalis compounds.
Cheirinine, C l3 H 35 17 N 3 , obtained from the alcoholic extract of the seeds of the wall-flower, crystallises in small, colourless needles, melts at 73—74°, and is soluble in warm water, alcohol, ether, chloroform, or ethylacetate. The aqueous solution is neutral and gives precipitates with the ordinary alkaloidal reagents. The physiological action of cheirinine resembles that of quinine.
The seeds also contain choline. J. Ch. S. LXXVIII. pt. I. (1900) p. 186.
72. Nasturtium officinale, R, Br. h.f.b.i., i. 133.
Eng.:—The Water-cress,
Ver.:—Piriya halim (Kumaon).
Habitat: ohilkhand, Punjab (N. India). Found near all hill-stations, but probably introduced. Simla in ditches, Ceylon, found naturalized at Kandy (Trimen).
An aquatic. Stem creeping and floating, much branched. Leaves pinnate, the upper with 3-7 pinules and a terminal one, the lower cut into. 3 repand segments. Flowers white, in short racemes. Petals longer than the sepals. Pods } — 1 in., stalked, spreading or bent upward; seeds small, 2-seriate.
Use:—Used as a salad, on account of its appetizing and anti-scorbutic properties.
The essential oil consists chiefly of phenylethylenethiocarbimide, C 6 H Se CH 2 .CH 2 .N: CS, which was identified by converting it into the thiocarbamide. The glucoside from which these are derived, is named ' gluconasturtiin,' and is regarded as having the constitution—
CH 2 Ph.CH 2 .N.C(S.C 6 H 11 5 ).O.S0 3 K+^H 2 0, but could only be obtained as a syrup ; by decomposition with silver nitrate, it gives 'silver nasturtiate,'
CH 2 Ph.CH 2 .N:C(SA g ).O.S0 3 A ff -}-2H 2 0, which also forms a crystalline compound with 2NH 3 , but loses this at ordinary temperatures.
When acted on by sodium thiosuljDhate, silver nasturtiate gives a clear solution which probably contains the sodium salt, but soon decomposes into sodium sulphate and the thiocarbamide, which can then be extracted with ether. J. Ch. S. 1899 A I. 930.
From this plant phenyletl^lthiocarbirnide, CH 2 Ph.CH.NCS is obtained.
Silver nasturtiate is soluble in ammonia in the presence of ammonium nitrate, but is precipitated by nitric acid, and is decomposed by sodium ​thiosulphate into phenylethylthioearbamide and sodium sulphate. When an attempt was made to prepare an additive compound of the silver salt with ammonia, it was found that some of the silver was replaced at the same time by ammonium. It is noteworthy that the seeds do not contain an appreciable quantity of any enzyme capable of hydrolysing the glucoside. J. Ch. S. 1900, A I. 49.
73. Cardamine pratensis, Linn. h.f.b.i., i. 138,
Habitat:—Hassora in western Tibet.
A perennial glabrous herb. Stem 1 ft. Rootstock sometimes bearing small fleshy tubers. Leaves pinnate; leaflets of the radical leaves orbicular or ovate, terminal longer: those of the cauline leaves linear-oblong entire, in equi-distant pairs, angled, shortly petioled. Flowers large white or lilac, corymbose when young. Petals spreading three times as long as sepals. Pods Lin., linear, erect. Style short.
Use:—Used as a salad for the same purpose as Nasturtium officinale.
74. Farsetia Jacquemontii, H.f. and T, H.F.B.L, I. 140.
Vern:—Mulei, farid buti, lathia, farid muli (Pb.)
Habitat:—Sandy places in the Punjab and Sindh.
An erect, rather rigid, hoary perennial herb, covered with closely adpressed hairs attached at their middle. Steins 12-18 in., branches virgate. Leaves ^-1 in., linear-oblong or linear. Flowers large; buds elliptic; Sepals acute, strigose; Petals half as long as the sepals. Stigma short, suberect. Pods narrow linear or linear-oblong, 1^-2 by |-|- in., compressed ; valves flat, nerveless or faintly one-nerved; seeds 2-seriate.
75. F. Hamiltonii, Royle. h.f.b.i., i. 140.
Habitat: Upper Gangetic plain and the Punjab, from Agra westwards.
A rigid, hoary undershrub, with forked virgate branches in the Salt Range of the Punjab. Leaves linear, Flowers ​spicate, distant, large ; buds cylindric, sepals obtuse |-|- in., hoary. Petals linear, obtuse, twice as long as the sepals. Pod elliptic-oblong J-f by - in., erect, broad ; valves flat, mid-rib indistinct, or sometimes prominent ; style very short. Seeds usually 2-seriate.
76. F. Aegyptiaca Turr. h.f.b.i., i. 140.
Vern.:—Mulei, farid buti, lathia, farid muli (Pb.).
Habitat:—Punjab, in the Salt Range.
An erect rigid perennial, covered with dense and fine, closely-adpressed pubescence; branches long, erect, virgate. Leaves linear, very narrow. Flowers small, in long spicate racemes. Buds small, subglobose; sepals, obtuse, strigose, margins scarious. Petals obovate, a little longer than the sepals, pink. Pods |-1 by % a in., linear; valves almost nerveless; septum transparent; style slender. Seeds 1-seriate.
Medicinal Properties and Uses:—All the above three species are considered specific for rheumatism in the Punjab. They are pounded and taken as a cooling medicine (Stewart).
77. Sisysmbrium Sophia, Linn. h.f.b.i., i. 150.
Habitat:—Punjab, in the Salt Range and near Peshawar; Temperate Himalaya, from Kumaon to Kashmir, Simla, Western Tibet.
An annual, erect, glabrous or finely pubescent herb. Stems 1-2 ft. Leaves numerous 1J-2 in., sessile, twice or thrice pinnatisect; segments short, thread-like. Flowers pale yellow; pedicels slender, ebracteate. Pods glabrous, slender, 1 in., slightly flattened, curved, erect, or spreading, cylindric; mid-rib prominent; stigma subsessile.
Use: The Seeds are used medicinally as a substitute or adulterant for those of S. Trio. (Stewart).
78. S. Irio, Linn. h.f.b.i., i. 150.
Vern.:—(Seeds) Khub kalan (Hind).; Naktrasa, Jangli sarson, Khub Kalan, Khaksi, (Pb.) Parjan; (Merwara); Jangli​Surson, (Sindh); Khakshi (Bomb.); Rantikhi (Mar.); Khakshir (Pers.)
Habitat:—Northern India, from Rajputana to the Punjab.
An annual or biennial, tall, glabrous herb. Stem 1-3 ft., quite glabrous or slightly pubescent at base. Leaves petioled, runcinate, pinnatifkl, segments remote, spreading, toothed not auricled; terminal large* sometimes hastate. Pedicels slender. Flowers yellow, minute. Fruiting pedicels slender, young pods overtopping the raceme. Old 3-nerved. Pods 1J-2 in., slender, erect, glabrous, subtorulose.
Parts used:—The seeds.
Use:—The seed is expectorant and restorative, and used externally as a stimulating poultice (Dymock.)
It is also said to be a febrifuge (Stewart).
79. Brassica nigra, Koch. h.f.b.i., i. 156.
Syn.:—Sinapis erysimoides, Roxb. 499.
Sans.:—Sarshap.
Vern.:—Rai, Kali rai, tira, taramira, lahi, banarsirai, jag-rai, asl-rai, ghor-rai, makra-rai (H) ; Rai-Saron, (Bom).; Kadagho (Tarn); Avalo (Tel.); Bile Sasive, Karisasive, sasive, (Kan).; Ahor, Suraj, Kali-surson (Sindh); Kali Sarson (Kumaon).
Habitat:—Cultivated in various parts of India.
An annual, 2-3 ft. high, rigid, branched, more or less hispid. Leaves 4-8 in., petioled ; lower lyrate, upper entire. Racemes naked. Flowers - in. diarn., bright yellow. Sepals spreading. Pods - in., subulate ; valves keeled, torulose ; cells 3-5-seeded. Seeds oblong.
Parts used:—The seeds.
Uses:—The seeds of this plant are used in medicine as poultice, being a useful and simple rubefacient and vesicant. Mustard poultices prove highly serviceable in cases of febrile and inflammatory diseases, internal congestions, spasmodic, neuralgic, and rheumatic affections. Mustard flour in water is highly recommended as a speedy and safe emetic. ​ The seeds act as a digestive condiment, if taken moderately.
If swallowed whole they operate as a laxative, and for this purpose are sometimes prescribed in dyspepsia and other complaints attended with torpid bowels (Watt).
The pure fresh oil is a stimulant and mild counter-irritant when applied externally. As such, it is very useful in mild attacks of sore-throat, internal congestion, and chronic muscular rheumatism (Surg. D. Basu, Faridpur).
The oil rubbed on the feet and the bridge of the nose cut short a head cold in one night. I have never seen it fail. In slight bronchitic affections of children, it makes a very useful mild counter-irritant application to the chest. It is also a very useful application in ordinary sore-throat (Surg. K, D. Ghose).
80. B. camprestris, Linn. h.f.b.i., i. 156.
Syn.:—Sinapis dichotoma and S. Glauca. Roxb. 497, 498,
Vern.:—Sarson, Sarson-zard, bara-lai, Sheta-Shirsa, banga-sarson, pila-sarson, rara-sarson, pili rai (H.); shwet-rai (B.); Sarashire, raira (Guj.); Hile-rayan (Deck.).
Habitat:—Cultivated throughout India.
(Variety Sarson, Prain F. B. Ind. I 156 under B. campestris, sub-species Napus). Stem 4-5 ft., unbranched or branching only near the top. Leaves glaucous, all (except the lowest 2 or 3), with stem clasping basal lobes ; lower leaves pinhati-partite, 6-8 by 2-3 in., terminal lobe much the largest; upper leaves oblong or lanceolate, 2J-3 in., more or less pinnatifid. Flowers nearly in. diam. Pods various, erect or pendent, sometimes 3 or 4-valved ; erect pods 2 in., pendent pods 3-3J in. long, including the beak ; beak conical, up to 1 in. Seeds 30-80 in a pod. A cold weather crop in the plains and hills, up to 6,000 ft. Indian Colza. Native name Sarson.
Parts used:—The seeds.
Uses:—The oil, combined with camphor, forms an efficacious embrocation in muscular rheumatism, stiff neck, &c. The seeds mixed with hot water form an efficient counter-irritant ​poultice. The oil used in dengue fever with great benefit, Used for rubbing on the chest in bronchitis. Action similar to mustard, but less effective.
81. B. Juncea, H. f. and T. h.f.b.i., i. 157.
Syn.:—Sinapis ramosa, Roxb; S. Cuneifolia, Roxb, S. rugosa, Roxb. 498 and 499.
Sans.:—Râjika (Kumaon.)
Vern.:—Râi, Sarson, Sarson-lahi, gohna-sarson, bari-râi, barlai, badshai-râi, Khas-râi (H); Râi sarisha, (B); Asur (Kashmir); Râi (Guz.); Mohari; râyî (Mar.).
Habitat:—Cultivated in India.
A tall, erect, branching annual, rarely glaucous, or hispid at the base only, Stem 3-6 ft., much-branched. Lower leaves petioled, sometimes pinnatifid, upper large, lanceolate, toothed, subsessile. Terminal lobe much the largest. Blade of the basal leaves 6-8 by 2-4 in., toothed; upper leaves 2-2½ in., entire. Flowers bright yellow; sepals spreading ½ in : diam. Pods 2¼-2½ in. including the beak, linear-lanceolate; beak narrowly-conical, ½ in.; valves with a prominent mid-rib, Seeds small, dark rugose, globose, about 40 in a pod.
Parts used:—The seeds.
Uses:—"The seeds commonly met with in the bazaars of India, which, from their colour, may be denominated Brown Mustard Seed, possess properties similar to those of the black and white mustard seed, for which they may be employed as an efficient substitute, especially in the preparation of mustard poultices." (Pharm. of Ind.)
"Externally used in internal congestions, in spasmodic, neuralgic, and rheumatic affections, and in morbid states of the cerebro-spinal system, as an emetic. Taken internally, it acts as a digestive." (Bombay Pharmacopœia Committee).
82. Eruca sativa, Lam. h.f.b.i., i. 158.
Eng.:—The rocket.
Vern.:—Safed-sarsu (Bombay). ​ An annual or biennial herb, glabrous or slightly hairy, glaucous. Stem 6-18 in., erect, branching. Leaves sessile, 1-4 in., pinnatifid; segments coarsely toothed, terminal, one broad; upper leaves smaller, sometimes very entire. Flowers pale yellow or white, ¾ in. across in racemes; veins dark. Sepals erect, lateral, slightly saccate. Petals clawed. Stigma capitate. Pods erect, pressed against stem, oblong-ovoid, ½-l in., nearly terete, prolonged in a flat-pointed, seedless beak half the length of the valves. Seeds in two rows. Cotyledons folded longitudinally over the radicle (Collett.)
Cultivated as a field-crop in N. W. Provinces, for the oil expressed from the seed. Simla. An escape; cultivated in Central India, Western Himalaya, Upper Gangetic valley.
Use : — It has properties similar to those of the water-cress and the cuckoo flower. It is acrid and used for purposes similar to those of Mustard.
The seeds are dark brown or dark grey and yield 30'8 per cent, of clear yellow oil with a slight mustard like odor and taste. Sp. gr. at 15° C, 0.915 Saponification value, 175.7; iodine value, 101.6. The oil could probably be used as a substitute for rape or colza oil. 100 seeds weigh only 0.25 grm.
Bulletin Imperial Institute 1913.
83.Capsella Barsa-Pastovis, Moench, h.f.b.i., i. 159.
Habitat : — A cosmopolitan weed in the vicinity of cultivation throughout temperate India,
An annual herb, more or less covered with forked hairs; root long, tapering. Stems erect, 6-18 in., branched. Radical leaves variable, usually pinnatifid, sometimes lanceolate, terminal lobe broadly triangular; segments nearly entire; upper leaves pinnatifid, lobed at the base, stem-clasping; uppermost lanceolate. Flowers small, 1/10 in. diam.; white, racemed. Sepals spreading, equal at the base. Pods nearly flat, triangular or obcordate, about ¼ in. broad. Seeds many, in two rows, oblong, punctate; radicle incumbent,
Use : — " This very common weed is bitter and pungent, yields a volatile oil on distillation identical with the oil of mustard, and has been used as an antiscorbutic, also in hæmaturia ​and other hæmorrhages, as well as in dropsy," (U. S. Dispensatory,)
84. Lepidium sativum, Linn, h.f.b.l, i. 159,
Sans. : — Chandrasura.
Vern. ; — Halim (Kumaon; chausaur (H.); Assalia, Ahliva, Bomb.); Ali verai (Tam) ; Adit-yalu (Tel.); Halim, aleverie (B.); tezak (Pb.); Ahero (Sind.); Asalio halim (Guz.); Allibija. (Kan.)
Habitat : — Cultivated throughout India,
An annual, erect, glabrous herb. Stems erect, 6-18 in., branched. Radical leaves twice-pinnatisect, long-petioled. Cauline sessile and usually entire, say Hooker. ƒ. and T, Anderson; pinnatifid or lanceolate, says Sir Henry Collett, Flowers small, white, in long racemes. Sepals erect, equal at the base, Pods ovate, 1/5 in,, notched at the tip; margins winged, wings narrow. Pods orbicular-ovate (H. ƒ. and T). Pedicels adpressed. Seeds one in each cell. Radicle in- cumbent, cotyledons divided.
In Simla fields; flowers in April and May.
It is the garden cress of Europe and Asia,
Parts used : — The seed and leaves.
Use: — According to the Sanskrit writers, the seeds are described as tonic and alterative, efficacious in hiccup, diarrhœa and skin diseases (U. C. Dutt).
The Mahomedan writers consider the seeds to have aphrodisiac and diuretic properties; they recommend them for the dispersion of certain chronic enlargements of the spleen, &c, and as an alterative in various diseased conditions supposed to be produced by cold humors (Dymock).
According to Honigberger. the plant in the Punjab was administered in cases of asthma, cough with expectoration and bleeding piles. The root is used in secondary syphilis and tenesmus.
According to Bellew, the seeds are also considered to be galactagogue in the Punjab, and are administered after being boiled with milk, to cause abortion. O'Shaughnessy found the drug answer as a gentle and warm aperient. ​Moodeen Sheriff writes of the seeds thus: — " Externally, it is of great service in all the diseases in which the mustard is resorted to. The thick and very gummy mucilage of the seeds acts as a mechanical antidote in cases of poisoning by irritant substances, enveloping the poisonous particles and sheathing the mucous membrane of the stomach and intestine." He regards the seed as a more satisfactory rubefacient than that of mustard prepared in India. According to him, the mucilage obtainable from the seeds may be used as a substitute for imported tragacanth and gum Arabic. " The best medicinal property of this drug, is its usefulness in dysentery and dysenteric diarrhœa. The coarse powder and the thick and very gummy mucilage of the seeds appear well-suited to allay the irritation of the mucous coat of the intestines in those diseases, and they thus relieve or check their symptoms to a considerable extent.
The leaves are gently stimulant and diuretic, as a salad, serviceable in scorbutic diseases (Balfour). The oil extracted from the seeds is also used medicinally.
When prepared by steam distillation from the finely cut plants, the essential oils of L. sativum consist principally of benzylthiocarbimide; this is always mixed with benzylic cyanide, especially if the plants are only coarsely cut before the distillation. Both compounds are produced by the decomposition of a glucoside, the former by the action of the ferment myrosin, and the latter by the action of boiling water and acids. The glucoside could not be obtained in crystals, but when decomposed by silver nitrate gave an insoluble silver derivative, which dissolved at once in ammonia, separating again in a crystalline form with two molecules of ammonia; to this compound the formula CH2 Ph° N: C (SAg). O. SO 3 Ag+2NH 3 is assigned, and the acid from which it is derived is named tropaeolic acid; the glucoside, to which the name of glucotropœolin is given, is regarded as having the constitution—- CH 2 Ph.N : C (S.C 6 H 11 O 5 ). O.S0 3 K2H 2 0.
When acted on by sodium thiosulphate, silver tropæolate gives a clear solution which probably contains the sodium salt, but soon decomposes into sodium sulphate and the thiocarbimide, which can then be extracted with ether. J. Ch. S. 1899A I. 930.
85. Raphanus sativus, Linn, h.f.b.i., i. 166.
Vern. :— Muli (H.); Mula (B.); Mulli (Dec); Mullangi, (Tam., Tel. and Kan.); Moore (Sind.). Tara mira, muri mungra, (Pb.). ​A coarse rough annual, edible., cultivated throughout India in gardens. Root fleshy, pungent, variable in size and form. Leaves roughly pilose ; lower ones lyrate. Flowers variable, usually white or lilac, with purple veins. Pods indehiscent, terete, 1 in, to 2ft. (R, caudatus), more or less constricted between the seeds, prolonged beyond the valves in a pointed beak, about half the length of the pod. Seeds separated by pith.
Parts used:—The seeds, and root.
Uses:—The seeds are diuretic, laxative, and lithontriptic, and the roots used for urinary and syphilitic diseases. Stewart says the seeds are considered to be emmenagogue in the Punjab.
The seeds, in doses of one drachm, are useful in gonorrhœa. The root is a reputed medicine for piles and gastrodynic pain (Watt).
The juice of the fresh leaves is also used as a diuretic and laxative.
In full and repeated doses, the seeds sometimes produce vomiting, but this is so rare that they cannot be regarded as an emetic (Moodeen Sheriff).
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PLATE No. 65.
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BRASSICA JUNCEA, BK. F. & T.
PLATE No. 66.
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A—CAPSELLA' BURSA-PASTORIS, MŒNCH
B—ERUCA SATIVA, LAMK.
PLATE No. 67.
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LEPIDIUM SATIVUM, LINN.
PLATE No. 68.
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RAPHANUS SATIVUS, LINN.