This species is considered to have medicinal properties similar to but weaker than the last. The decoction of the root has a pleasant bitter taste, and is administered in cases of intermittent and typhus fever. In Tamul it is called "Noochie;" in Telinga, "Wayalakoo;" in Hindustanee, "Nisunda;" and in Cinghalese, "Sooddoo-nikka." It is a more erect shrub than the last, and its leaves are all compound, consisting of from three to five entire or toothed or deeply pinnatifid leaflets, covered with white meal underneath, as also are the branches and flowers.
NYCTAGINACEÆ.
Boerhaavia diffusa, Linn. (= Boerhaavia procumbens, Roxb.).
The roots of several species of Boerhaavia are employed medicinally by the natives of various parts of the world. In India those of the present have the reputation of being antifebrile, and Ainslie also says that the native practitioners include them amongst their laxative medicines. This plant is a herbaceous perennial with decumbent, smooth, or rarely pubescent stems and leaves, the latter varying very much in shape. Among the Bengalese it is known by the name of "Gadha-poorna;" and it is the "Pittasooddopala" of the Cinghalese. Its leaves are eaten as a potherb.
EUPHORBIACEÆ.
Tragia cannabina, Willd.
"Sirroo canchorie" in the Tamul; and "Doolya-gunda" in the Telinga language. The root of this plant has a pleasant odour when fresh: the native doctors consider it to possess diaphoretic and alterative qualities, and they prescribe an infusion of it in ardent fever. It is an erect shrub, about four feet high, with hispid stems and leaves, the latter being divided into three sinuated lobes. Roxburgh says that the hairs on this plant sting as bad as those of the common nettle.