Indian Medicinal Plants/Natural Order Fumariaceæ

by Kanhoba Ranchoddas Kirtikar and Baman Das Basu

N. O. FUMARIACEÆ.

66. Hypecoum procambens, Linn, h.f.b.l, i. 120.

Habitat:—Drier parts of the Punjab, Peshawar, Multan and the Salt Range.

A low, annual glaucous herb. Stems procumbent, many, 3-12 in., slender. Leaves 2-3-pinnatisect, 2-4 in.. Segments linear or oblong, upper sessile, whorled. Flowers few, 1 in. diam., yellow, pedicelled. Outer petals 3-lobed. Inner petals with the lateral segments iinear-oblong, obtuse, midlobe entire, retuse or 2-fid, toothed or fimbriate (H. /. and Th. . Fruit 1-2-2 J in., i in. broad, curved, sub-compressed, at length break- ing up into 1-seeded joints.

Parts used : — The leaves,

Uses ; — The juice has the same effect as opium. The leaves act as diaphoretic (Murray).

67. Corydalis Govaniana, Wall. h.f,b.i., i. 124.

Sans.:—Bhutakesi.

Vern.:—Bhutkis, bhutkesi (H. and B.)

Habitat:—Western Himalayas, 8-120,00 feet, from Kumaon to Kashmir.

Herbs with a presistent woody rootstock. which latter is often branched, crowded with red leaf-sheaths. Stem stout, 1-2 ft., as thick as the thumb, almost naked, or with 1-2 leaves near the top. Radical leaves nearly equaling the stem, many oblong, 2-pinnatisect, long-petioled, cuneate, lanceolate, cut into linear segments, 2 near the base. Cauline leaves 1-2 or 0. Racemes 2-4 in. long, terminal, dense, many-flowered. Bracts broadly cuneate, exceeding the pedicels cut about the middle. Flowers 1 in. long, bright yellow, posticous petal convex, back wing very broad, limb shorter than the curved slender spur. Capsule ½-⅛ in. Style persistent, half its length.

Part used:—The root.

Uses:—The root is supposed to be tonic, diuretic and alterative, and is prescribed in syphilitic, scrofulous and cutaneous affections, in the dose of from 10 to 30 grains. The drug is also often used in the form of a decoction or tincture. (Watt).

68. C. ramosa, Wall. h.f.b.i., i. 125.

Habitat:—Alpine Himalaya, from Sikkim to Kashmir.

A glaucous herb. Stem procumbent, weak-branched, 1-2 ft. (dwarf at high elevations), often leafy, flexuous. Radical leaves few or many, long-petioled, 2-3-times divided ; alternate segments small, narrow-oblong or linear. Leaves finally decompound. Racemes terminal, many, lax, many-flowered. Bracts cut into linear lobes, 1-5 in., flowers ½ in. long, yellow ; posticous petal dorsally winged, hooded or shorter than the obtuse spur. Style persistent, pedicels deflexed. Capsules ovate-oblong, obtuse. Seeds shining, numerous.

Hooker mentions 3 varieties.

Use: — Dr. Aitchison, in his Flora of the Kurram Volley, says that in Kurram this is employed by the natives in the treatment of eye diseases, like all other plants, with yellow sap. It is there called Mamiran. 69. Fumaria parviflora, Lamk. h.f.b.i., i. 128.

Syn. : — F. officinalis, Bedd. (Sanskrit) Parpat.

Vern.: — Pitpâpadâ, (Hind. Dec.) ; Ban-sulpha (Beng.) ; Pittapâpado (Guj.); Khasudlio (Dr. Shah); Kshetra Parputi (Hindi); Sháhatarâ, Shatra (Pers., Sind.) ; Tura (Tam.); Chatarashi (Tel.) Khairuwa (Kumaon.)

Habitat : — Indo-Gangetic plain, lower Himalaya and Nilghiri Mts. : a weed of cultivation. Gujrat and the Konkan.

An annual glabrous herb, pale green, much-branched. Stem diffuse, 4-24 in. Root-stock usually perennial. Leaves pinnately divided ; leaflets deeply-lobed ; segments very narrow, flat, lobed or entire. Flower pale pink or white, tips purple, ¼-⅓ in. long, in numerous, short racemes, 1-2 in.; bracts lanceolate, outer petals dissimilar, upper one broad, concave, produced at the base, in a short rounded spur, less than ⅓ the length of the petal ; lower one flat, narrow. Inner petals narrow, clawed, keeled (Collett). Sepals lanceolate, much smaller than the coronal-tube. Pedicels exceeding the bracts. Lower set of stamens spurred at the base, the spur projecting inside the petal-spur. Fruit, a very small globose, 1-seeded nutlet, rugose, when dry, rounded at the top, with two pits.

Pittapâpadâ is found as a weed, usually cultivated in fields in the Dekkan, the Konkan and Sindh. Described by Dalzell and by Woodrow. It has been found by Jaya Krishna Indraji at Porebunder.

Part used : — The entire plant, except the root.

Uses: — The dried plant is regarded as efficacious in low fever, and is also used as an anthelmintic, diuretic, diaphoretic and aperient, and to purify the blood in skin diseases. (Baden- Powell).

Along with black pepper, it is used in the treatment of ague. (Hoyle). Mahomedan writers describe the plant, as diuretic and alterative, aperient and expectorant. (Dymock.)

It has been prescribed by Dr. T. M. Shah of Junagadh usefully as a tonic in Dyspepsia and in mild fever. Dr. Thornton is of opinion that the drug is useful in leprous affections.

The authors of the Pharmacographia Indica describe the drug as beneficial in dyspepsia due to torpidity of the intestines and as a valuable remedy in scrofulous skin diseases.

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