Hydnocarpus pentandra (Buch.-Ham.) Oken

മരോട്ടി

Family : Flacourtiaceae

Synonym : Chilmoria pentandra Buch.-Ham.

Common Names : Kotti, Marotti, Thamana, Chaulmugra

Flowering Period : December – May

Distribution : Peninsular India

Habitat : Semi-evergreen and moist deciduous forests, also in the plains

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.