A small shrub, with aromatic odour ; 1ft. Branchlets scabrous and scaly. Leaves 1-1½in. long, elliptic or broad-oblong, shining above, broad-tomentose, and as it were tomentose from the layer of glands, petiole ⅛-¼in. long. Flowers yellow, in dense terminal corymbs. Calyx-lobes oblong or elliptic membranous, ciliate. Corolla tubular, with a dilated mouth ; tube 1/5in. long ; lobes obovate, entire, spreading. Stamens 6-8 ; Ovary scaly. Capsule 1/5in. long, ovoid. Seeds oblong, subacute. Testa lax, not produced even at the ends.
Uses: — The leaves are aromatic, and their smoke is considered useful in some diseases. They are supposed to have stimulant properties (Stewart). The leaves are administered as errhine to produce sneezing (Honnigberger).
This is one of the species which is thought by the Bhutias to excite the headache and nausea which attends ascents to the high elevations of the Eastern Himalaya. (Sir J. D. Hooker.)
711. R. cinnabarinum, Hook. f h.f.b.l, iii. 474.
Vern. : — Búlú (Nepal) ; Kema, kechung (Lepcha).
Habitat: — Eastern Himalaya, Sikkim and Bhutan.
A large shrub, 4-8ft. Bark thin, reddish-grey. Wood light- greyish or yellowish- white, moderately hard, even-grained, warps. Leaves 2-3 by 1-1¾in., acute or obtuse, beneath nearly white or cinnamoneous, with scattered gland scales, oblong or elliptic. Petioles terminal or clustered, ⅛-⅓in. Pedicels ¼-½in., squamous or glabrous. Bracts glabrous, with ciliate margins. Flowers, says C. B. Clarke, orange-rose or brick-red. FJowers scarlet, says Gamble ; orange or brick red says Brandis. Calyx-lobes small, unequal or obsolete. Corolla- tube long, narrow, campanulate, lobes ovate, 1¼ by ⅓in., pendulous. Stamens 10. Filaments pilose at base. Ovary 5-celled, glandular scaly. Capsule ⅓-½ by ¼in. Seeds ovoid or trigonous. Testa close, hardly produced at all. A most variable plant says Clarke.
Use: — The leaves are universally considered poisonous to cattle and goats. If employed as fuel, the smoke causes eyes to inflame and the face to swell (Hooker).
