The name is derived from the Greek, and refers to the medical doctrine of fluids in the body. Flowers, four pairs awl-shaped and like leaves in shape. Corolla glabrous on lower lip.
Fruit has four to eight flattened brownish seeds, which contain a quantity of strong mucilage.
The drug has no special odour or taste. Chiefly mucilage, fixed oil, phytosterol, and a trace of an alkaloidal substance, properties similar to Couchgrass. It is a popular aphrodisiac. In Southern India the root is the commercial part, but in Bombay the seeds are mostly used. Official in India and the Eastern Colonies.