786. C. tuberosa, Roxb. h.f.b.l, iv. 70.
Syn. : — C. acuminata, Roxb. 251.
Vern. : — Kappe-kadu (Bomb.) ; Pátál-tumbdi (Mar.) ; Commúmadu (Tel.).
Habitat : — Deccan Peninsula, from the Concan southwards.
Twining herbs, quite glabrous ; root tuberous. Stem leafy-slender. Leaves glabrous, l-4in.; fleshy, from orbiculcular apiculate to lanceolate acuminate ; base acute or rounded. Petiole ¼-⅔in. Peduncles glabrous 1-3 together, ½-3in.; pedicels fascicled or subpaniculate ; bracts minute. Flowers lin. long and upwards, rarely less. Sepals subulate, 1/6in., recurved. Corolla l-2in., straight, base somewhat inflate, mouth slightly dilated. Lobes ⅓ shorter than the tube, suddenly contracted from a triangular base into linear cohering appendages that are at first connate throughout their length, and villous within. Coronallobes ciliate, very short. Follicles 4-5in. long, slender. Seeds ¼in. long, linear.
Use : — The starchy, somewhat bitter tubers, are used as a nutritive tonic in the bowel complaints of children (Dymock).
787. Boucerosia aucheriana, Dcne, h.f.b.l, iv. 78.
Vern. : — Charúngli, chungi, pawanne, pamanke (Pb.).
Habitat :--Dry hills in the Western Punjab ; the Salt Range, &c.
The genus Boucerosia is described by J. D. Hooker as " fleshy leafless herbs, with thick 4-angled stem, angles toothed."
B. Aucheriana is a plant 2-6in. high ; branches ⅓-½in. diam. Flowers capitate. Sepals ovate-lanceolate. Corolla ⅓in. diam., dark-purple, more or less deeply divided into lobes, narrow, lanceolate, glabrous, pustular above. Follicles 3-4in., tips capitate.
Uses : — The juicy stems are considered stomachic, carminative, and tonic. Bellew states that they are also used as vermifuge, and Masson mentions that, dried and powdered, they are taken as stimulants (Stewart). It is also used as a febrifuge.
