900 INDIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS.
Var. indica. h.f.b.i. iv. 238.
Vern: — Phopetie ; Chirboti or Ghirbutti ; Kapparphodi (M.). Habitat :— Throughout India.
The leaves and fruiting calyx are glabrescent, and the latter is distinctly 5-angular. The corolla has no basal spots.
Uses : — It is considered to be tonic, diuretic and purgative, and is an ingredient in a medicinal oil which is given for spleen, the other ingredients are Pokarmul. Hing, Hirda, Long pepper, Bidalawan (Black salt), Sendhav (Rock salt), Javakshara 'ash of potash), ginger, and melted butter. (Dymoek).
CAPSICUM, Linn.
This genus contains the various forms of Chillies and Red and Yellow Peppers so widely cultivated in India and other tropical countries. It is indigenous in S. America and is believed to have been introduced into India about the middle of the seventeenh century . The very large number of cultivated forms, many of which were previously recognized as distinct species, have b y recent authors been reduced to the two original Linnean species : C. annunm and C. frutescens, the one an annual and the other a perennial. Moreover, there is some probability that these two may have originated from a single very variable S. American species ; for, as Prain remarks, the forms of C. annuum are often not truly annual in the tropics, and in temperate regions the perennial' tropical forms rarely persist for more than one season. — (Duthie.).
864. C. frutescens, Linn, h.f.b.i., iv. 239 Roxb. 193.
Eng. : — Spur Pepper, Cayenne Pepper.
Vern. :— Lai or gach-marich, lal lanka marich, lanka (B.) ; Lai or gaeh-mirich, lal-mircha (H.) ; Kursani (Himalaya); lal- mirchi (BomJ ; Mirchi (Guz.) ; Tambhuda mirchingay, mirchi (Mar,) ; Mulla-ghAi (Tarn.) ; Mirapa-kaia, golakonda, mirapah, sima, sudi-mirapa-kaia (Tel.) ; Ladu mira, chabai, kappal-melaka, chabe-Iombok, ladamera, ladamera china (Mai.) ; Menashina kayi (Kan.)
Habitat : — Cultivated throughout India.
A perennial herb, universally cultivated throughout India for its fruit, known as the Chilli. Leaves entire or repand ;
