Label source: History & Uses - This is a tall shrub or small tree, much resembling the common hazel; the flowers, which are bright red and showy, appear in the rains. In Sanskrit it is called 'Avartani'. The peculiar twisted form of the carpels has proba, bly led to its use as a medicine according to the ancient doctrine of signatures. Ainslie notices its use by the Hindus as a remedy for offensive sores inside the ears. At the present time it enters into most prescriptions for the cure of griping in the b, owels and flatulence, especially in the cases of children. Its chief virtue seems to be its harmlessness. Description - The fruit consists of five slender angular carpals twisted like a corkscrew and together forming a cone about 1.5 to 2 inches long. The, carpels are pubescent and of a greenish brown colour; they contain a single row of dark brown angular seeds. The internal surface is of a light greenish hue and highly polished; taste mucilaginous. Medicinally we may consider this drug to be simply demul, cent. Commerce: it is kept in all druggist shops as a domestic remedy in perhaps one .......... Known articles in the Hindu Materia Medica. Value Rs 3.5 per Surat maund of 37.5 lbs. (Part missing)