91
Hydnocarpus pentandra (Buch.-Ham.) Oken
Synonym : Chilmoria pentandra Buch.-Ham.
Family
: Flacourtiaceae
Local Names
: Kotti, Marotti, Thamana,
Chaulmugra
Flowering
and fruiting period:
December – May
Distribution: Western Ghats
Habitat: Semi-evergreen and moist deciduous forests,
also in the plains
IUCN
status:
Data Deficient
Endemic: Yes
Uses: Seed oil is used, both internally and
externally, in the treatment of lepromatous leprosy, and is effective in early
cases in decreasing the size of nodules, anaesthetic patches and skin lesions. The
oil has also been recommended as a topical application to treat rheumatism,
sprains and bruises, sciatica and chest complaints, and for dressing wounds. It is used in Ayurveda, Sidha
and Folk systems of medicine in India. The
white wood is of fair quality and is occasionally used.
Key
Characters:
Dioecious trees, to 25 m high, bole
fluted; bark surface pale brown mottled with white patches, smooth. Leaves simple,
alternate, elliptic, elliptic-lanceolate, margin crenate. Flowers unisexual,
greenish-yellow, solitary or in small fascicle. Sepals 5, broadly ovate,
pubescent. Petals 5, broadly ovate, greenish-yellow. Stamens 5-15; ovary
globose, 1-celled; stigma sessile and two lobbed. Fruit a berry, globose, rind
thick, brown.