79
Flacourtia
montana Graham
Synonym : No synonyms are recorded
for this name.
Family
: Flacourtiaceae
Local Names
: Charalmaram, Kattuloika,
Vayyamkaitha
Flowering
and fruiting period:
April – June
Distribution: India
Habitat: Evergreen and semi-evergreen forests
IUCN
status:
Data Deficient
Endemic: Yes
Uses: Fruits edible. An important herb in Ayurveda, where
infusions of the bark, leaves and root are used medicinally to treat conditions
such as fever, diarrhoea and inflammations. The leaf is carminative, astringent
and used as a tonic, an expectorant and for asthma, pain relief, gynaecological
complaints and as an anthelmintic, and treatment for hydrocele, pneumonia and
intestinal worms. The leaves are used as an antidote to snake bites. In India,
an infusion of the bark is used as a gargle for hoarseness. In Madagascar, the
bark, triturated in oil, is used as an anti-rheumatic liniment. The bark is
used as a tanning material. Wood used for agricultural implements such as
ploughs etc.
Key
Characters:
Thorny trees to 8 m, thorns about 5 cm
long, bark grey, thin, smooth. Leaves simple, alternate, spiral, ovate,
elliptic, margin crenate-serrate.
Flowers unisexual, small, in axillary congested pubescent cymes. Sepals 4 or 5
tomentose, small, imbricate. Petals absent. Stamens many; anthers versatile.
Ovary superior, incompletely 2-5 locular, ovules 2 in each cell. Fruit a berry,
globose, bright red, of an agreeable acid flavour.
