Indian Medicinal Plants/Natural Order Connaraceæ
N. 0. CONNARACEÆ.
338. Rourea santaloides, W. and A. h.f.b.l, ii. 47.
Vern.:—Vardhâra (Bom.); Wâkeri (M.); Huleshadlabally (Kan.).
Habitat:—Western Peninsula, from the Concan to Travancore.
A semi-scandent or small tree. Branchlets slender. Bark shining, purplish; buds pubescent. Leaves imparipinnate, rachis, 3-6 in., slender, curved, glabrous. Leaflets often alternate, 1-3 pair (2 or 3 pair and a terminal one—Trimen), glabrous, coriaceous, very shortly stalked, shining above, 2-3 in., (2-5 in.—Trimen) oval or lanceolate Elliptic or ovate-lanceolate, caudate-acuminate, rounded at base, with prominent reticulate venation beneath. Secondary nerves, arching, conspicuous. Flowers white, small, ¼ in., on slender jointed pedicel, with a minute, hairy bracteole at the joint; arranged in lax, slender, erect or ascending glabrous, recemose panicles, several of which arise from leaf-axil. Calyx-segments strongly imbricate, orbicular, very obtuse, glabrous. Petals much longer than sepals, oval-oblong, spreading. Stamens erect. Ovary glabrous; styles spreading. Fruit a capsule (Brandis), ¾-1 in. long. Follicles ¼ in. or a little more, cylindric, falcately curved, tapering to a point, apiculate, striate, surrounded at base by a leathery cup formed of the much-enlarged and elongated sepals, dehiscing ventrally, i.e., along the inner suture. Arillus orange-coloured. Seed about ⅜ in., oblong ovoid. Cotyledons plano-convex. Flowers in April, says Trimen; May-Oct., says Brandis.
Habitat:—Ceylon up to 3,000 ft. Malabar coast, evergreen forests of the Western Ghats, from the Concan southwards.
Singhalese (Kirindi-wel). Use:—The root is used as a bitter tonic in rheumatism, scurvy, diabetes and pulmonary complaints. Many fanciful virtues are attributed to it by the Natives; it is believed to promote the growth of a foetus in utero, the development of which has been arrested (S. Arjun).
The root is also used as an alterative and tonic, for the same purposes as Sarsaparilla, in syphilis, &c. Externally, it is applied to ulcers and other skin diseases.
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