A small, deciduous tree. Bark ½in. thick, grey, corky. Wood white, moderately hard, even-grained. Twigs glabrous, pubesulous. Leaves membranous, elliptic-ovate or lanceolate or ovate- oblong, obtusely acuminate or caudate, 3-5 by 1-1½in. ; nerves 6-12 pair, faint till the leaves are old, then strong beneath, base acute or rounded ; petiole very short. Cymes sometimes 5in. diam., with slender, spreading, dichotomous branches ; bracts minute. Flowers white or cream-coloured, ½-¾in. diam. Sepals ovate-obtuse. Corolla-lobes linear-oblong. Scales linear, scattered.
Stamens large. Follicles 6-8in. long or more, cylindric, slender, smooth, tips adhering. Seeds ½-¾in., glabrous, except for the coma, linear.
Uses: — The root-bark and seeds are adulterated with, and also used as substitutes for Holarrhena antidysenterica.
" The bark may be distinguished from the true Conessi (Holarrhena antidysenterica) bark by its darker color, and by its not exfoliating in patches (absence of rhytidoma); the seeds by their want of bitterness. The bark is used as a tonic and the seeds as an aphrodisiac ; both are articles of commerce, the former being more frequently met with in the shops than true Conessi bark." (Pharmacographia Indica, Vol. II, p. 398).
761. W. tomentosa, Rœm. and Schult., h.f.b.i., iii.653.
Syn. : — Nerium tomentosum, Roxb. 243.
Vern. : — Dudhi, dharauli, daira, Kâla inderjau (H.) ; Dudh- koraiza (B.) ; Sandi-kya (Kol.) ; Atkura, burn machkunda (Santal) ; Dudhi, kiláwa, keor (Pb.) ; Dudhi, kadu-inderjao, daira (Bomb.) ; Kalu inderjau (Mar.) ; Tálla pal, koila mukri, koyila mokiri, putta jillédu, pedda pâla (Tel.) Bile kude, gidda (Kan).
Habitat : — Throughout India, extending in the Sub-Himalayan tracts Westward. Eastward to Sikkim. In Dun and Saharanpur Forests. Rajputana plentiful on the Hill Road to Mount Abu, in fruit, in November. Behar, Assam, Chittagong, Burma, Ceylon.
