Spondias pinnata (L. f.) Kurz

അമ്പഴം

Family : Anacardiaceae

Synonym : Mangifera pinnata L. f.

Common Names : Ambayam, Kattambazham, Mampuli, Indian hog plum

Flowering Period : March – December

Distribution : Indo-Malaysia

Habitat : Moist deciduous and semi-evergreen forests, also in the plains

Uses : The leaves are used for flavouring. The fruit is used as an astringent and antiscorbutic and used in the treatment of bilious dyspepsia. The bark is recommended in the treatment of stomach aches and dysentery. The root is considered to be useful in regulating menstruation. Fruits edible. Anti-rheumatic.

Key Characters :

Deciduous tree growing to 25 m high. Bark surface is vertically striated; exudation colourless, gummy. Leaves clustered at the end of branches; leaflets 5-21, opposite or subopposite. Flowers polygamous, yellowish-white, subsessile, in terminal spreading panicles; calyx small; lobes 5, deciduous; petals 5, oblong, glabrous, spreading, valvate; stamens 10; anthers versatile. Ovary superior, 5-celled, 1 ovule in each cell, pendulous. Fruit is a fleshy drupe.