4
Aegle
marmelos (L.) Correa
Synonym : Crataeva marmelos
L.
Family
: Rutaceae
Local Names
: Koovalam, Vilvam, Bael
tree, Holy fruit tree
Distribution: India and Sri Lanka; widely cultivated in
South East Asia, Malaysia, Tropical Africa and the United States
Habitat: Grown in temple premises and homesteads
IUCN
status:
Data deficient
Endemic: Yes
Uses: Sacred Indian Plant. Fruits are eaten fresh or made into jam
and drinks. The young leaves can be eaten as salad. The sliced, sun-dried fruit are used to
improve appetite, and to treat diarrhoea and dysentery. The pulp is also used
to treat respiration disorders. Flowers are distilled to make perfumes. Fruit
pulp is used as detergent. The wood is hard but not durable, used to make
handles of small tools.
Key
Characters:
Trees to 12 m tall, deciduous;
branchlets cylindric; spines present. Leaves alternate-3-foliolate, sometimes
5-foliolate, ovate-elliptic. Inflorescences axillary and terminal,
