Mimusops elengi L.

ഇലഞ്ഞി

Family : Sapotaceae

Synonym : Mimusops javensis Burck.

Common Names : Elenji, Bullet wood, West India medlar, Spanish cherry

Flowering Period : December – August

Distribution : Indo-Malaysia

Habitat : Semi-evergreen and evergreen forests, also grown in homesteads

Uses : Sacred Indian plant. Edible fruits. Bark is used in the treatment of diarrhoea and dysentery. A decoction of the bark, sometimes mixed with the flowers, is used as a gargle to treat gum inflammation, toothache etc. It is also used to treat gonorrhoea, snakebites, fevers, wounds, scabies and eczema. It is often combined with tamarind bark (Tamarindus indica) then used as a lotion on skin complaints. The flowers are very aromatic and retain their fragrance for a long time after being dried. An essential oil used in perfumery can be distilled from them. A brown dye is obtained from the bark.

Key Characters :

Mimusops elengi are evergreen trees, bark dark grey, cracked or fissured longitudinally. Leaves simple, alternate, spiral, elliptic-oblong, margin entire. Flowers bisexual, white, fragrant, 1-3 in axillary fascicles. Calyx lobes 8 in 2 series of 4 each, valvate. Corolla lobes 24, 3 series of 8 each. Stamens 8, alternating with pilose staminodes. Ovary 6-8-celled; 1 ovule in each cell. Fruit a berry, yellow, ovoid.