Citrus maxima (Burm.f.) Merr.

കമ്പിളിനാരകം

Family : RUTACEAE

Synonym :

Citrus grandis Osbeck

Common Names : Babloos, Bablimoos, Kambilinarangam, Pomelo

Flowering Period : April-November

Distribution : Native of south east Asia

Habitat : Cultivated

Uses : Fruit edible as raw or cooked. The peel can be candied and used as a flavouring in cakes etc. The flowers are used for scenting tea. Various parts of the tree have traditional medicinal applications, including the leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds. They are used to treat a range of conditions, including coughs, fevers and gastric disorders. A decoction of the fresh leaves, in combination with the leaves from some other aromatic species, is used in the treatment of coryza, influenza and headache by inhalation of the vapour from the boiling decoction. A massage using the heated young leaves is an effective treatment for bruises. An essential oil is obtained from the flowers.

Key Characters :

Trees to 10 m high, young parts grey-pubescent; bark greyish-brown, lenticellate; branchlets angular. Leaves unifoliolate, alternate, estipulate; petiole 20-30 mm long, winged, wings obcordate; lamina 6.5-10 x 3-7 cm, ovate or elliptic, base cuneate, subcordate or round, apex obtuse or acute, margin subentire or crenate, glabrous above, softly pubescent beneath, coriaceous, glandular-punctate; lateral nerves 7-10 pairs, pinnate, prominent, intercostae reticulate. Flowers bisexual, creamy, solitary or in axillary clusters; calyx ca. 1 x 1.5 mm, pubescent, irregularly lobed; petals 5, ca. 25 x 13 mm, oblong-obovae, glandular; stamens up to 30; filaments irregularly polyadelphous at base, anthers oblong, apiculate; disc annular, greenish-white; ovary superior, glabrous, 10-14-celled; style cylindric; stigma capitate, glandular-sticky. Fruit a hesperidium, 15-20 cm across, oblate to pyriform, greenish or yellow, glandular; pulp vesicles pale green to pinkish, acidic or sweet; seeds large, wrinkled.