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Macaranga peltata (Roxb.) Muell.

Synonym                    : Osyris peltata Roxb.

Family                        : Euphorbiaceae

Local Names              : Vatta, Macaranga

Flowering and fruiting period: January – February 

Distribution: India, Sri Lanka and Andaman’s

Habitat: Moist deciduous and secondary forests, also in the plains 

IUCN status: Data Deficient

Endemic: Yes

Uses: Roots, bark and leaves are fairly commonly used internally in traditional medicine in South-East Asia, usually as a decoction, to treat stomach-ache, dysentery, haemoptysis, cough and fever. The leaves, and sometimes resin, are applied externally to wounds, ulcers, sores and boils 

Key Characters: Macaranga peltata are dioecious trees; bark greyish-brown mottled with white, smooth. Leaves simple, alternate, ovate, apex acute, base peltate, margin entire. Flowers unisexual, greenish-yellow. Male flowers: in axillary panicles; tepals 3, minute, obovate; stamens 2-8. Female flowers: in panicles; tepals 4; ovary superior, ovule one in each cell; style lateral; stigma sessile. Fruit a capsule, globose.