Gomphia serrata (Gaertn.) Kanis

ആനപേരാൽ

Family : OCHNACEAE

Synonym :

Ochna zeylanica Lam.

Common Names : Aanaperal, Chavakambu, Chavetti, Chokkatti, Valermani

Flowering Period : Throughout the year

Distribution : Indo-Malesia

Habitat : Semi-evergreen forests, occasionally in moist deciduous forests

Uses : The leaves are chewed by jungle tribes in Malaya. The roots and leaves are bitter. A decoction is used as a stomachic and antiemetic tonic. Young branches are used as a treatment for tooth-ache. The dull red or red-brown wood is hard and strong, close and even-grained, easy to saw but apt to split in drying. It is used as poles or planks for the construction of houses. The wood makes a good charcoal.

Key Characters :

Woody erect shrubs. Leaves alternate, 6-16 x 2.5-5 cm, elliptic-oblong, base acute, margins sharply serrulate, apex shortly acuminate, shiny, coriaceous, lateral nerves many, close, parallel, united into an intramarginal vein; stipules 2, lanceolate. Inflorescence an axillary or terminal raceme or panicle. Flowers c. 1.5 cm across; bracts triangular. Sepals 5, elliptic-ovate. Petals 5, bright yellow, narrowly obovate. Disc lobed. Stamens 10, subsessile; anthers linear, dehiscing by terminal pores. Ovary deeply 4-5-lobed, reddish; ovule 1-per locule. Drupes 4-5, seated on disc, reniform, reddish brown.