Canthium coromandelicum (Burm. f.) Alston

കാരമുള്ള്

Family : RUBIACEAE

Synonym :

Plectronia parviflora (Lam.) Bedd.

Common Names : Kandakara, Karamullu, Kattaramullu, Madhakara, Wild jessamine, Carray cheddie

Flowering Period : April-June

Distribution : Indo-Malesia

Habitat : Moist and dry deciduous forests, also in sacred groves

Uses : Leaves edible - raw or cooked. They are eaten in salads and also used as a vegetable. Plant is commonly used medicinal herb in India, where it is considered to be a general tonic for the whole body. Specifically, it is said to control high blood pressure, reduce unwanted fats in the body, and purify the circulatory system. It is used in the treatment of a wide range of conditions, including diabetes, fevers, indigestion, nausea, diarrhoea, constipation, dysuria, impotence, decreased sperm count, and in renal calculi. The roots, combined with milk, are a traditional medicine for treating snake bites. The bark, combined with turmeric and lime, is made into a paste and applied on the forehead to cure headache. The branches are used for fencing.

Key Characters :

Armed shrubs; branchlets obtusely 4-angled; bark grey; spines 1-3.2 cm long, supra-axillary. Leaves simple, opposite,1.8-4.2 x 1.3-3 cm, ovate, elliptic-ovate to obovate, apex subacute, base rounded to attenuate; petiole c. 5 mm long; stipules subulate. Flowers greenish, 4-merous, in axillary, sessile cymes below spines. Calyx cupular, 4-toothed. Corolla 4-5 mm across, campanulate to globose, mouth villous; lobes 4, ovate, acute, spreading or reflexed. Stamens 4, subsessile, exserted. Stigma capitate, slightly 2-lobed. Fruit 1-1.4 cm across, subglobose, yellow.