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Limonia
acidissima L.
Synonym : Feronia limonia (L.)
Swingle
Family
: Rutaceae
Local
Names
: Vilankai, Vilavu, Elephant
apple, Wood apple
Flowering
and fruiting period:
December – June
Distribution: Indo-Malaysia
Habitat: Dry deciduous forests, also grown in
homesteads
IUCN
status:
Data Deficient
Endemic: No
Uses: Fruits, leaves
edible. The pulp and powdered rind of the fruit is applied as a
poultice for insect bites and stings; the unripe fruit is used in the treatment
of gum diseases, sore throat, coughs, dysentery and diarrhoea. The
powdered fruit is mixed with honey and used to treat dysentery in
children. The fruits can be eaten raw, or made into preserves and drinks,
and the young leaves are sometimes eaten as a salad. The sticky layer of pulp
that surrounds the seeds in the unripe fruit can be used as glue; when mixed
with lime, it can also be used as a household sealant to cement walls and
waterproof wells. The leaves and fruits are used as elephant feed in
India.
Key
Characters:
Deciduous trees, to 20 m high, bark
dark-grey or black, deeply cracked longitudinally; thorns straight. Leaves
imparipinnate, alternate; lamina obovate. Flowers polygamous, dull red in axillary
cymes; calyx small, flat, 5-toothed; petals 5, free, spreading; stamens 10-12,
inserted round the disc; ovary superior, oblong, 5-6-celled, ovules many;
stigma oblong. Fruit a berry, globose, whitish-brown, rind hard and woody;
seeds many.
