Persea macrantha (Nees) Kosterm.

കുളമാവ്

Family : Lauraceae

Synonym : Machilus macrantha Nees

Common Names : Kulamavu, Uravu, Large flowered bay tree

Flowering Period : December – May

Distribution : Peninsular India and Sri Lanka

Habitat : Evergreen, semi-evergreen and moist deciduous forests, also in sacred groves

Uses : It is a traditional medicinal plant being used in the treatment of asthma and rheumatism.

Key Characters :

Evergreen tree growing to 30 m high. Bark surface pale brown, mottled with dark blotches. Leaves simple, alternate, clustered at the tip of branchlets with elliptic-oblong lamina. Flowers bisexual, pale yellow, in panicles from upper axils and terminal. Perianth tube short, tepals 6, in 2 series, persistent in fruit. Stamens 9; anthers 4-celled; staminodes 3. Ovary half inferior, monolocular; ovule 1, pendulous. Fruit is a berry, globose, green with white specks, aromatic, epicarp turn red when ripe; seed one, globose.