Identity of the plant tagara

[Dominik Wujastyk]

ksuvx0.kyoto-su.ac.jp!yanom said:
> 
> According to J. Ojihara's Japanese translation of Su\"sruta,
> there are two possibilities for tagara:
> Podophyllum Emodi, Wall. 
> Tabernaemontana coronaria, Br.

Many thanks.  The T. coronaria identification seems to be a very old
one, going back to the period of Raj.   For instance, this identity
appears in the list by Sir George King (1840-1909) which is appended to
U. C. _Dutt's Materia Medica of the Hindus_.  The uses of T. coronaria
fit the passage I have been looking at.  King was Director of the
Botanic Gardens in Calcutta, and first Director of the Botanical Survey
of India, so he knew a thing or two.

The identification with P. emodi, a relative of American Mandrake,
is new to me, and may be based on the identity tagara = vakra = P.
emodi.  However, P. emodi, a drug only found above 9000 feet in the far
north, is normally given in pills for liver complaints, catharsis, etc.,
but never, as far as I can see, as an ointment for skin trouble.  So I
don't think it is a strong contender for tagara, at least in the present
context (Su. kalpasthana).

But Indian Valerian is still a contender, since tagara seems to have
gone into at least Hindi, Marathi and Bengali in this meaning.

Dominik