Casearia ovata (Lam.) Willd.

മലമ്പാവട്ട

Family : FLACOURTIACEAE

Synonym :

Anavinga ovata Lam.

Common Names : Malampavatta, Vellakunnan

Flowering Period : January-May

Distribution : India and Sri Lanka

Habitat : Evergreen, semi-evergreen and shola forests

Uses : An oil obtained from the seeds is used for cooking purposes. The bark is bitter and tonic. The leaves are anthelmintic and antirheumatic. A decoction or an infusion is useful in the treatment of joint pain. The light yellow wood is even-grained, moderately hard. The wood is of poor quality and little or not at all used, but it has a good grain and should do for carvings, plates, etc.

Key Characters :

Trees, to 10 m, bark grey, mottled with green; young shoots glabrous. Leaves simple, alternate, distichous, 7-16 x 4-7 cm, elliptic-oblong, elliptic-obovate, elliptic-ovate, obovate or ovate, apex acuminate, base acute or rounded, margin entire or distantly serrate; petiole 6-20 mm, slender, glabrous, slightly grooved above, glabrous, chartaceous; midrib red, pellucid gland dotted; lateral veins 6-8 pairs, pinnate, prominent, intercostae reticulate, faint; stipules small, scale-like, , lateral, cauducous. Flowers small, bisexual, greenish, in axillary fascicles. Ccalyx 4-5 lobed, glabrous. Petals absent. Stamens 8-10, united into a short tube with alternating staminodes, forming a ring attached below to the calyx tube, tufted at their apex. Ovary ovoid, 1-celled; style simple. Fruit a succulent capsule to 1.5 cm long, orange yellow; seeds many.