Elaeocarpus serratus L.

കാര

Family : ELAEOCARPACEAE

Synonym :

Elaeocarpus oblongus Gaertn.

Common Names : Bhadraksham, Kara, Karamavu, Nallakara, Perinkara, Valiyakara, Wild Olive tree, Ceylon Olive

Flowering Period : April – September

Distribution : Indo-Malaysia

Habitat : Semi-evergreen forests, also in the plains

Uses : Fruits edible, anti-diarrheal. The leaves are antirheumatic and an antidote to poisoning. The astringent fruits are used in the treatment of dysentery and diarrhoea.

Key Characters :

Trees, to 20 m high, aerial roots on large buttresses; bark brown, mottled with grey. Leaves simple, alternate, elliptic-obovate, margin crenate-serrate. Flowers bisexual, white, in axillary racemes. Sepals 5, ovate, valvate. Petals 5, laciniate, inserted round the base of glandular disc. Stamens many, inserted between the glands on the disc. Ovary superior, 3-celled; ovules 2 in each cell. Fruit a drupe, green.