Soogûndaraju gida, kelahú, húdingana (Kan.) ; Kullvalei-mani,
kunda-mani cheddi (Tam.) ; Krishna-tamarah, guri genza chettu
(Tel.) ; Katúvâra (Mal.).
Eng. : — Indian shot.
Habitat : — Cultivated in gardens all over India as ornamental and flowering plants.
Root-stock stout, perennial, tuberous, with many fibres. Stem 3-4ft. Leaves 6-18 by 4-8in., lanceolate to ovate, oval or almost orbicular, caudate-acuminate ; veins arching, sheath open above, margins membranous. Lower leaf 1ft. or more. Raceme with a pedicle 1ft. or more, erect ; peduncles with a long narrow sheath about the middle ; bracts ½in. oblong, ovate, obtuse, membranous, green. Flowers rather distant 2-2½in. long. Calyx segments ¼-⅓in.,lanceolate or oblong, membranous, obtuse. Corolla-segments 1in., erect, narrow, oblanceolate, acuminate, greenish or coloured. Staminal segments longer than the corolla, 3 sub-erect, spathulate, 1 linear, revolute. Fruit erect, ½-1in. long, sub-globose or oblong, obscurely 3-lobed, crowned with calyx segments, pericarp echinulate, black, thin ; seeds very many, pea-sized, globose ; testa crustaceous, black, shining. (Trimen and J. G. Baker.)
Uses : -The root is used as a diaphoretic and diuretic in fevers and dropsy (Atkinson), and also given as a demulcent. (Irvine.) It is considered acrid and stimulant. (Fleming.) When cattle have eaten any poisonous grass, which is generally discovered by the swelling of the abdomen, the natives administer to them the stock of this plant, which they break up into small pieces, boil in rice-water with pepper, and give the cattle to drink. (Drury.) The seed is cordial and vulnerary. (Baden-Powell.)
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Sans. :— Kadali ; Rambhá. Dirghapatra, Vrisapuspa.
Vern. :— Kelá (H.) ; Kolâ (B.) ; Kolpakâ (As.); Kewiro (Sind.) ; Mouz, kel (Mar.) ; Vazhaip pazham, valai (Tam.) ; Arati,
