# Indian Medicinal Plants/Natural Order Violaceæ

N. 0. VIOLACEÆ.
98. Reseda odorata, Linn, h.f.b.i, i. 181.
Habitat : — An English annual herb, cultivivated in Indian gardens in the cold weather.
(Sweet-mignonette). Annual or perennial. Stems diffuse, of varying height, 1-2 ft., generally, clothed with bluntish lance-shaped leaves, entire or three-lobed. Flowers in long, loose, terminal racemes. Calyx 6-parted; petals creamy, finely cut into numerous divisions. Anthers red. Seeds numerous, in an ever open capsule.
(Favourite Flowers of Garden and Greenhouse by Edward Step, F. L. S., London, 1896. Vol. I, p. 65).
Use :— It is put to the same uses as violets.
Chemistry : — The root yields an oil, on distillation, which smells of radishes, has a light brown color, a sp. gr. of 1.067 at 15°, and a rotation of +1° 30' in a 100 mm. tube. This oil is phenylethylthiocarbamide, for, when heated with strong hydrochloric acid, it yields phenylethylamine hydroclorids, carbon oxysulphide and hydrogen sulphide being evolved; phenyl- ethylthiocarbamide is produced when it is heated with alcoholic ammonia. Diphenylethyloxamide melts at 186° and phenyl- ethylthiocarbamide at 137°. (J. Ch. S. 1895, p. 218).
99. Viola serpens, Wall, h.f.b.i, i.184,
Vern, : — Banafsha (H.); thungtu (Kumaon).
Habitat ; — Moist woods, etc., throughout the temperate Himalaya, Khasia Hills, Pulney and Nilgiri Mountains, Ceylon,
A perennial herb, with a slender ascending root-stock, usually giving off long prostrate, glabrous, rooting branches. Hooker says: "Stolons and stems usually long, leafy and flowering." Leaves 1-1½ in,, broadly cordate-ovate, acute or obtuse, crenate-serrate, more or less hairy on both surfaces; petioles usually longer than leaves, hairy, especially at the upper part; stipules free, fimbriate. Flowers ½-⅔ in., nodding; ​peduncle longer than leaf, slightly hairy; bracts setaceous. Sepals lanceolate, very acute. Petals oblong spreading; spur not inflated (Trimen); saccate, say Hooker f, and Th. Stigma oblique. Capsule ¼ in. long, globose or subglobose, pubescent, valve dehiscing irregularly. Seeds few.
Use: — This species also yields Banafsha of the Bazaars, and is considered to have medicinal properties similar to those of V. odorata. In the Punjab, a medicinal oil is prepared from it, called raughan-i-banafsha.
100. V. odorata, Linn, h.f.b.i., i.184.
Vern. : — Banafsha(H.; Dec; Bom.; Guz.); Banosa (Beng.); Vayilethe (Tam.)
Habitat : — Kashmir.
A glabrate or pubescent herb. Root-stock stout. Stem very short or 0. Stolons slender. Leaves tufted, in the Kashmir plant, ½-l in. diam., broadly ovate-cordate, obtuse, crenate, tip rounded, nearly glabrous. Stipules entire or toothed, subulate, lanceolate. Sepals rounded at tip, very obtuse, spur nearly straight, short, cylindric, style inflated above; stigma decurved.
Parts used: — The flowers used dry.
Uses : — By the Mahomedan hakims, it is generally considered cold and moist, and is especially valued as a diuretic and expectorant, and as a purgative in bilious affections.
O'Shaughnessy experimented with the dry plant as a substitute for Ipecacuanha, but without success.
Moodeen Sheriff considers it antipyretic and diaphoretic, and very useful in relieving febrile symptoms and excitement in all forms of fever, particularly in combination with other drugs of the same class.
A certain amount of interest is attached to the leaves of the violet on account of an apparent improvement following the employment of the fresh infusion of the leaves in a case (L. '05, i. 713) in which it was alleged that a patient might have been suffering from malignant disease. A handful of the leaves was ​ soaked in a pint of boiling water for 24 hours and the liquid poured off, divided into 2 parts, 1 part being taken internally during the 24 hours, and the other used as a fomentation. An apparent recovery from a presumably malignant growth of the mouth resulted.
An examination of the leaves of the common violet (viola odorata) in the Lancet laboratory (L. '05, i, 1085) showed the presence of two crystalline bodies, one glucosidal and the other alkaloidal in character, and also a dark green oil. Alcohol was found a much more effective solvent than an aqueous menstruum; in view of the employment of an aqueous infusion, the latter point is of interest.
The alkaloid isolated behaved, chemically, much in the same way as Emetine, the principal alkaloid of Ipecacuanha. It has been stated (Y. B P. '05, 467; C. D. '05, ii. 977; P. J. '05, ii. 869) that any activity which violet leaves possess is due either to the glucoside, the product of its decomposition, or a natural ferment associated with it. Reckoned as viola quercitrin, the glucoside from Princess of Wales violet leaves amounted to 5 p. c. of the weight of the fresh leaves. A fresh infusion was found to extract nine-tenths of the glucoside present in the leaves. No volatile constituent was isolated, no alkaloid could be detected, no salicylic acid was found. The presence of a glucoside was proved, but the glucoside was not isolated. Objection has been taken to the evidence of the uses of violet leaves having been unfortunately collected chiefly by unskilled persons, and that it has therefore been lacking in definiteness, and consequently in value. After the definite expression of the opinions mentioned in the above reference, it is disappointing to find in a paper read before the Therapeutical Society, October 30th, 1906, and reported in the Lancet, '06, ii. 1318, that all attempts to isolate and identify a glucoside from violet leaves have failed; similarly, there was no evidence of a ferment being present; the only positive facts resulting from the experiments being that the leaves and their preparations yield under certain conditions glucose.
It has been pointed out that the reputation of Violets for ​ the treatment of malignant growths was founded on the use of wild Violets, at least as far back as James I, and that it is therefore desirable that in any inquiry into the subject wild Violets should be used, such as have been used for centuries, and not a recent cultivated Violet, as employed at the present time. In the light of the above remarks, the varieties officinal in the Continental Pharmacopoeias will be of interest. It will be noted that wild violets are officinal in the German and Swiss Pharmacopœias, and cultivated Violets in the Austrian.
(Peter Squire's Companion to the British Pharmacopœia, 18th edition (1908), pp. 1235-1236).
A syrup is made from the petals which is a favourite remedy for infantile disorders.
The root is a powerful emetic, and is frequently used to adulterate ipecac. A dose of from forty to fifty grains of the powdered root acts powerfully.
A principle called violine is present in all parts of the plant, analogous in external characteristics to the emetine of ipecacuanha, and possessing the same emetic properties. It is an alkaline substance, and forms salts by its union with acids; it is soluble in alcohol, but hardly so in water.
The flowers were used in olden times as remedies in many disorders, and were supposed to be especially serviceable to the eyes and in ague.
The seeds were formerly believed to counteract the effect of a scorpion's sting.
Syrup of violets is a favorite medicine for cough and hoarseness. The French make great use of violets in their confitures and household remedies ; and we have seen and partaken of a delicate sweetmeat composed simply of the violet flower prepared with sugar, yet retaining its delicious perfume. (Sowerby's English Botany).
101. V. cinerea, Boiss, h.f.b.i, i. 185.
Vern. : — Banafsha (Sind. and Pb.)
Habitat:— Dry hilly region of the Punjab and Sindh. ​ A small herb. Stem short, glabrous 1-6 in., slightly powdery; diffuse-branched. Leaves elliptic-ovate or lanceolate, acute, obscurely crenate, ¼-½ in., apiculate; petioles as long; spitules leafy fimbriate, Peduncles slender, bracts subulate. Flowers small, axillary, ¼ in. diam. Sepals lanceolate, aristate. Spur very short, secreting honey within it. Style clavate, compressed; stigma lateral of two oblong parallel discs. Fruit 1/5-¼ in., elliptic, acute.
Use : — This plant is used medicinally in Sind, in the same way as V. odorata.
102. Ionidium suffruticosum, Ging, h.f.b.i, i. 185.
Syn. : — Viola suffruticosa and V. enneasperma, Roxb. 218.
Sans. :-~ Charati (Ainslie).
Vern. :— Ratanpuras (H. and Bomb.); Noonbora (B.); Suryakaiti; nilakobari; Pooroosharatanum (Tel.); Orilaihamaray, (Tam.); Oorelatamara (Malayal.); Tandi, Sol; bir Surajmukhi (Santal.).
Habitat : — From Bundelkhund and Agra to Bengal and Ceylon.
A glabrous or pubescent, very variable perennial herb, 6-12 in., branches diffuse, woody. Leaves linear or lanceolate, serrate-toothed, sub-sessile, ½-2 by 1/12-⅓ in., lower leaves broader. Stipules subulate, gland-tipped. Flowers solitary axillary, red. Pedicels shorter than the leaves. Sepals 5, subequal, not produced at the base. Petals variable, 4, oblong, acute or mucronate, the 5th with a claw and large oval or orbicular limb. Filaments distinct, bearing the anthers low down. Anthers free, 2 or 4 of them gibbous or spurred at the back, the two interior ones usually having a nectarial gland at the base. Ovary ovoid. Style clavate, incurved. Stigma oblique. Capsule 3-valved, sub-globose, few-seeded, valves, not elastic. Seeds globose, striate, testa crustaceous.
Parts used : — The leaves, stalks and root. ​Use : — The leaves and tender stalks are demulcent, and are used by the natives in decoction and electuary; they are also employed in conjunction with some mild oil in preparing a cooling liniment for the head (Ainslie). The Santals employ the root in bowel complaints of children (A. Campbell). Dr. Moodeen Sheriff considers the drug to be demulcent and refrigerant and useful in some cases of gonorrhœa and of scalding of urine.
In the United States Dispensatory, it is stated that the root of a species of Ionidium has attracted some attention in the treatment of elephantiasis.
PLATE No. 78.
RESEDA ODORATA, LINN.
PLATE No. 79.
VIOLA SERPENS, WALL.
A—VIOLA CINEREA, BOISS. B—VIOLA ODORATA, LINN. :
| A—VIOLA CINEREA, BOISS. | B—VIOLA ODORATA, LINN. |
PLATE No. 81.
IONIDIUM SUFFRUTICOSUM, GING.