A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c43.s23.2

v3.c43.s23.2

Contents 508 This work, which gives only names of plants and their synonyms, is divided into six sections (*kāṇḍa*), which deal with trees (*vṛkṣa*; 3–183), shrubs (*gulma*; 184–291), creepers (*latā*; 292–335), vegetables (*śāka*; 336–368), grasses (*tṛṇa*; 369–385), grains, pulse and related plants (*dhānya*; 386–401). This arrangement is new and not found in other *nighaṇṭus*, but it should be noted that Hemacandra was not strict in applying his own scheme. The section on shrubs includes a herb like *apāmārga* (204–205) 509 and a climber like *jyotiṣmatī* (209); 510 the presence of *rāsnā* in this section (219) may mean that this word designated a shrub according to Hemacandra and not an orchid. 511 The section on creepers describes a herb like *kaṭukā* (298–299) 512 and also lotuses and water-lilies (327–334), while the section on vegetables has verses on plants not used as such (*saptalā*, 340cd-341ab; *prasāraṇī*, 341cd-342; *bhṛṅgarāja*, 346cd-347ab). 513