Encyclopedias & Dictionaries | Monier-Williams: A Sanskrit-English Dictionary (p. 348) gambhārī, f. the tree Gmelina arborea (also its flower, fruit, and root) L. Monier-Williams: A Sanskrit-English Dictionary (p. 280) kāśmarī, f. the plant Gmelina arborea (Gambhārī) MBh. R. Suśr. Mālatīm. Dymock, Warden, Hooper: Pharmacographia Indica (vol. III, pp. 70-71) Gmelina arborea, Verbenaceae In the Nighantas this tree bears the Sanskrit names of GhambhÄri, Sriparni, KÄsmari, &c. The root is described as bitter, tonic, stomachic, laxative, and useful in fever, indigestion, anasarca, &c. It is an ingredient of the Dasamula, or "ten roots," and is therefore much used in a variety of diseases. Bangasena says that GambhÄri root taken with liquorice, honey, and sugar increases the secretion of milk. The fruit is bitter-sweet and cooling, and enters into the composition of several cooling decoctions which are recommended for fever. The following is an example: Take of the fruits of G. arborea and Grewia asiatica (parushaka), liquorice root, red sandal wood, and the root of Andropogon muricatus (ushira), equal parts, in all two tolÄs (360 grains), water thirty-two tolÄs, and boil till reduced to one half. (Chakradatta, quoted by Dutt, Hind. Mat. Med., p. 128). The juice of the young leaves is used as a demulcent in gonorrhoea, cough, &c., alone or with other demulcents (Pharmacopoeia of India, p. 164). The bark of the tree is used by arrack manufacturers in the Madura district to regulate the fermentation of toddy. The wood of this tree on account of its lightness and toughness is much valued for carriage building and all ornamental work; it is light yellow with a reddish hoart wood, close and even-grained, easily worked, and readily takes paint or varnish. At the Government Medical Store Dep"t Workshops it has been found to be the best wood for making artificial limbs, stethoscopes, &c. It turns well. Weight 30 to 40 lbs. per cubic foot.
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