HED-YA. MAnn. A drover or cattle-dealer. . HEDY° MUM, a genus of plants belonging to the natural order Zingibetacete. 28 species occur in the East Indies, some of them with sweet smelling flowers.
Hedychium coronarium, Linn.
Doolal champa, ' . BENG. I Ganda suli, . . MALAY. Khet-lan-thm, . BUM.
The garland flower, much cultivated. The flowers are fragrant; colours, orange, scarlet, yellow, arid white. The yellow and white varieties are both common. This is the most charming of all the plants of this natural order ; the great length of time it continues to throw out a profusion of large, beautiful, fragrant blossoms, makes it particularly desirable. The • plants are increased by dividing the roots.
Hedychium spicatum, Boyle.
Ban-haldi ; Shlui of BEAS. Bazar Boots.
Sidhoul, . . . HIND. San-nai, Sandah, CHIN. Ban-kela ; Said Of RAVI. Kapur kachri, . HIND. Khor ; Shalwi, . SUTLEJ. Kachur, Seer, Rutti, „ This grows throughout the East Indies, in Nepal, in the Panjab Himalaya, up to near the Jhelum, at least, at from 3500 to 7500 feet, and also in China. Its large broad leaves are twisted, and made into coarse mats for sleeping on, etc. The root is fragrant, warm, and aromatic ; and Dr.
Hoyle thinks it may probably be the ritte, or lesser galangal of Ainslie. The root, capoor cutchery, in China, is cut into small pieces and dried for exportation ; has internally a whitish colour, but externally it is rough and of a reddish colour ; it has a pungent and bitterish taste, and a slightly aromatio smell. It is exported to Bombay, and from thence to Persia and Arabia ; it is said to be used in perfumery and for medicinal purposes, and also to preserve clothes from insects. In Garhwal they are used in washing the newly married ; and Madden states that they are pounded with tobacco for the hookah.-0'811; Marsden ; Roxb. ; Voi0; Stewart.
HEDYOTIDEtE, a section of plants of the natural order Cinchonacete, containing species of Wendlandia, Dentella, Iledyotis, etc. There are ten known species of Hedyotis.
Hedyotis Burnia.nniana, R. Br.
Oldenlandia biflora, Lam.
Gerontegea Mora, Chain. and Sen. Khet-papra, . . BENG. l Purputi, Papra, .
Two-flowered Indian madder, is a plant of Ceylon, both Peninsulas of India, and Bengal. Appears in moist ground in the rainy season. The whole plant is used in infusion as an excellent tonic and febrifuge in chronic fever. Dose 1 to 2 drachma ; price 8 annas per lb. Other species also occur, and are called Ganda badalee and Poonkha.
Hedyotis Heynei, R. Br.
II herbacea, 1Yillde. l Oldenlandia herbacea, Box.
Tells nela vemu, . . . . TEL.
A plant of the Peninsula of India.—Irvine. 'Hedyotis urnbcllata, Lamarck.
hispida, Both. ' Oldenlandia umbellata, H. Indica, -Mem and Sch. Linn.
ChaY46a, ANGLO-TAM. Says, Tau.
Indian madder, . Exa. Emburel cheddi, Choya, . . . SINGH. Cherivelu, . . TEL. Sayan ; Sayan mul, „ This dye plant grows in sandy soils on the Coro: mandel coast. The root of that which grows wild is reckoned the best, but it is also cultivated to some extent. For the cultivation of the plant
the finest sandy soil' is required, as being the most favourable to the free growth of the root, on the length. of which the value of the. article greatly depends. The cultivation 'commences in the end of May or beginning of "June, with the first falls, of, the south-west monsoon. Dur ing the space of three months the sand is sub jected to repeated ploughings, and is thoroughly cleaned from all weeds. Between each ploughing it is manured, and after the last ploughing it is levelled with a board, and formed into small beds of about six feet by three. The seed, which is extremely minute (so much so that it is impossible to gather it except by sweeping up the surface sand into which it has fallen, at the end of the harvest), is then sown by spreading a thin layer of sand over the prepared beds. They are then kept constantly moist, and are watered gently with a sieve made of palmyra fibres, five or six times a day ; care being taken that the water is quite sweet and fresh, for which purpose it is obtained from wells newly dug in the field. • At the end of a fortnight the seeds under this treatment will have germinated freely, after which the young plants are only watered once a day, in addition to which, liquid cow dung, greatly diluted with water, is daily sprinkled over them. In about four months more, or at the end of six months from the time of sowing, provided the season has been good and the falls of rain regular, the plants will have reached maturity, and the roots be ready for digging. But no artificial irrigation will compen sate for a failure of the natural rain ; and when this happens, the plants must be left for three or even four months longer, in which case the produce will be deficient both in quantity and quality. But in an ordinary season the produce of a podu, or plot containing an acre and three quarters, will yield from 5 to 10, averaging abort 8, candies of 500 lbs. each.
The plants are dug up with a light wooden spade tipped with iron, and arc tied into bundles of a handful each, without cutting off the stocks. They arc then left to dry, the leaves wither and fall off, and the bundles aro weighed and removed. Before the digging begins, the seeds, which have now ripened, are shed, and, being exceedingly minute, become inextricably mixed with the sand, the surface of which is therefore carefully scraped up, and reserved for future sowings.
It is largely used by the Indian dyer in the south of India. It furnishes a red dye similar to manjith. Experiments in Great Britain with the chay-root have hitherto failed, in consequence, it is supposed, of deterioration during the voyage. In the case of this and of some other Indian dye stuffs, the colouring matter could be extracted similarly to indigo before it is exported.—O'Sh.; Ains. • R. Iliad. Er. 1857, See Chay-root ; Dyes.