# Indian Medicinal Plants/Natural Order Guttiferæ

N. O. GUTTIFERÆ.
Gareinia Mangostana, Linn., h.f.b.i., i. 260, Roxb. 441.
Vern. :— Mangustan (Bomb.); Mengkop (Burm.).
Eng. : —The Mangosteen.
Habitat : — Cultivated in some parts of the Madras Presidency, as at Barliyar in the Nilghiri Hills;Tenasserim. Malay Peninsula (doubtfully Avild) Gamble says it has never been successfully grown in Northern India as it requires, a very hot, moist and uniform climate. " Home unknown; cultivated in moist regions of tropical Asia" (Brandis). Found in Cochin- China, Java, Singapore.
An evergreen, small, conical tree, 20-30 ft, glabrous. Branches many and decussate. Under favourable circumstances, says Brandis, the tree attains 60ft. and more. " Bark dark brown or almost charcoal-black, inner bark yellowish. Wood brick-red, hard. Pores moderate-sized, scanty, single or in small groups surrounded by loose tissue, the groups very irregularly ​run together into more or less concentric patches, sometimes long and continuous, more often subdivided. Medullary rays moderately broad, not very numerous, of the same colour as the patches" (Gamble). Leaves thickly coriaceous, 6-10 in. by 2½-4½ in.; nerves regular, close inarching, with an intramarginal one; numerous, parallel "alternating with shorter intermediate nerves (Brandis). Petiole short, thick. Flowers tetramerous, " bisexual, solitary or in pairs at the ends of branchlets, 2 in. diam." (Brandis) Male flower in 3-9-flowered terminal fascicles; pedicels short. Sepals orbicular, concave, persistent. Petals broad, ovate, fleshy; yellow, red or purple. Stamens surrounding the rudimentary ovary in four masses; indefinite; filaments slender, flat at the base and sometimes connate, anthers ovate-oblong, 2-celled. Hermaphrodite flowers, 2 in. diam., solitary or germinating at the tips of young branches; pedicels ½ in., thick, woody. Sepals and petals as in the Male. Stamens many, filaments slender, connate below. Female flower: — Ovary, 4-8-celled, stigma sessile, thick 5-8-lobed, ovate, solitary. Fruit, a berry as large as an orange, globose, smooth, dark purple; pericarp or rind firm, spongy, thick, full of yellow resinous juice. Seeds large, flattened, embedded in snowy-white, or pinkish delicious pulp, which is botanically called the aril. This pulp it is that gives the fruit its value as one of the finest fruits of the Eastern Tropics, and one of the most highly appreciated, delicious products of the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. Flowers from November to February. Fruit ready in May and June. Pierre has examined more than 1,500 Mangos-teen trees, without finding a single male flower. But he adds that several species produce male flowers when young, and female flowers at a later age. (Brandis).
I have seen a tree of this in the Dapoli English Church (Mission)— K. R. K.
Parts used: — The rind, fruit, bark and leaves.
Use : — The rind is used as an astringent medicine for diarrhœa and dysentery. It has been found very useful in chronic diarrhœa in children by Waring and others. (Ph. Ind., p. 31.)
It has also been used as a febrifuge (Dymock). ​ According to Rumphius, the bark and young leaves are employed by the Macassars in diarrhœa, dysentery and affections of the genito-urinary tracts, and also as a wash for aphthæ of the mouth.
In exhibiting before the Melbourne Medical Congress of January 1889, a powder and a liquid extract of mangosteen from the fruit-rind prepared by the late Mr. M. C. Periera of the Bombay Medical Stores, Surgeon Major Kirtikar said thus : — " The value of these preparations lies in the yellow resin which the rind of the fruit contains a character of the fruits of the Guttifers. The resin acts like all other resins as a stimulant to the intestinal canal. I am not sure whether the crystallisable substance, mangostine, which Schmidt has obtained from the rind, has any particular therapeutic property. It is worthy of a trial, as the preparations are largely used by the Natives of Western India in chronic cases of the intestinal canal. Waitz recommends a decoction of the powdered rind as an external astringent application. I have no doubt that the resin adds to the value of this local remedy, by mechanically constricting the parts gently — an effect very often produced by uniform light bandaging." (Congress Proceedings, p. 948).
A strong decoction has also been recommended as an external astringent application (Watt.)
The fruit is said to have come into use of late years in European medicine as a substitute for Bæl (Watt.)
Mangostin (A) occurs in all parts of the Mangosteen tree. The dried fruit-skins contain about 5% each of a crystalline resin (A) and non-crystal resin. (A) was first isolated by Schmidt, who assigned the formula C$_{20}$H$_{22}$O$_5$. (A) has the typical resin properties, burning with a smoky, luminous flame, causing friction and vibration when rubbed between the fingers, and dissolving in alkalis, alc, Et$_2$0, and many other solvents. (A) was obtained by coneg. the alk. ext, of the dried skins in vacuo, shaking the syrupy residue with H$_2$O, and dissolving the dried insol. portion in warm PhH containing a little Et$_2$O. Recrystd. repeatedly from ale. containing a little H$_2$O, it forms flat, pale yellow needles, m. 181-2°. The analyses and mol. wt. detns. in PhO H and (CO$_2$ 2 Me)$_2$gave results agreeing with C$_{23}$H$_{24}$O$_6$. (A) is insol. in carbonates, dissolves in alkalies with a red color, and is repptd. by CO$_2$ and acids and gives a greenish brown color with FeCl$_3$ . It contains 1 MeO and 2 phenolic OH, the latter being shown by titration and by the action of Me$_2$SO$_4$ and dil. aq. KOH, which yield dimethyl-mangostin, C$_{25}$H$_{28}$O$_6$, faintly yellow, ​ silky needles, m. 123 (A) and warm HN0 3 gave (C0 2 H) 2 , even when HOAc was used as diluent. Coned. KMN0 4 also gave (C0 2 H) 2 . Fusion with 5 parts KOH at about 250 : gave a volatile oil with the odor of AniOH. The aq. soln. of the fusion was acidified and extd. with E-t 2 0. yielding BzOH, isolated as the Ca salt. In another expt. the aq. soln. of the fusion was satd. with C0 2 , shaken out with Et 2 and then with ale., which did not mix with the soln. The ale. soln. containing K salts was evapd., acidified with H 2 SO^, and distd. with steam. The resulting volatile acids were purified through the Ba and Xa salts, and finally sepd. as the Ag salts. HOAc and C H :j -C0 2 H were found. Boiled with HI for 12 hrs., (A) yields a substance, C 22 H 22 6 , faintly yellow, silky needles, m. 180-1°, changes into short rhombs with identical properties on standing overnight in the mother-liquors when erystd. from ale. gives a deep green color in ale. with FeCl 3 ; its methyl derivative, prepd. with Me 2 S0 4 and aq. KOH containing a little ale. to facilitate solu. m. 216° ; the monoacetyl derivative, using Ac 2 O and NaOAc, m. 218-9°.— Chemical Abstracts, Aug. 10, 1915 ; p. 2061.
128. G. indica, Chois., h.f.b.i., i. 261.
Syn. : — G. purpurea, Rcxb, 443.
Vern. — The fruit, Amsul, Kokam (Bomb.); Brindad (Goa); the oil, Kokam tel (Bomb.); the bark, Ratamba-sal, Bomb.); Murgal mara (Tam).
Habitat : — Western Peninsula, ghats of Concan and Canara.
A slender tree with drooping branches, branchlets black. "Bark light brown, rather shining, very thin, smooth. Wood greyish white, hard: many dark concentric lines, resembling annual rings, without or with very few pores; very numerous, narrow, anastomozing white brands, in which the scanty moderate- sized pores appear. Medullary rays moderately broad, white, regular (Gamble). Leaves red. when young 2-4 in., thickly membranous, lanceolate, occasionally oblanceolate, nearly sessile, mucronate, rarely obtuse. Secondary nerves slender. 6-10 pair, a few shorter, very slender: intermediate nerves between. Flowers tetramerous, small. Sepals orbicular, outer small petals rather smaller. Male flowers: a central, round or 4-sided mass with crowded, numerous. 2-celled anthers: in terminal 3-7-flowered, often pedunculate cymes; pedicels ¼in. long. Anthers numerous, 2-celled on short filaments crowded on a ​ central hemispherical receptacle. Hermaphrodite flower: solitary. Stamens 10-18, in 4 bundies alternating with petals. Female flowers solitary, terminal, shortly strictly peduncled. Ovary 4-8 celled; stigma 6-7 — radiate, each ray with 2 lines of tubercles. Ovary 5-7-celled, says Brandis. Fruit globose, as long as a small orange, purple, not grooved. Seeds 5-8, embedded, compressed in a reddish acid pulp. Flowering time, November- February. Fruit ready, April-May.
Parts used : — The fruit, seeds, and bark.
Use :— The Apothecaries of Goa prepare a very fine purple syrup from the juice of the fruit, which is used in bilious affections. The bark is astringent, and the young leaves, after having been tied up in a plantain leaf and stewed in hot ashes, are rubbed with cold milk and given as a remedy for dysentery (Dymock.)
The oil of the seeds is officinal in the Indian Pharmacopœia for the preparation of ointments, suppositories and other pharmaceutical purposes. It has been used as a local application to ulcerations, fissures of the lips, hands, &c. (Ph, Ind., p. 31.)
Regarding the oil, Modeen Sheriff writes: — " I have used it internally in my practice, and have found that its best medicinal properties are its usefulness in phthisis pulmonalis and some scrofulous diseases, and in dysentery and mucous diarrhœa."
The oil is used by the natives as a remedy for excoriations, chaps, fissures of the lips, &c, by partly melting it and rubbing on the affected part. It is solid at ordinary temperature.
129. G. Morella, Desrouss. h.f.b.l, i. 264.
Syn. : — G. pictoria, Roxb., 444. Q. elliptica, Wall.
Vern. : —The tree = Tamál , the drug = ghótághaubá, gotà ganbá, tamál (Hind.); the tree=Tamál the drug = tamál (Beng); the drug= Ausaraherevan (Dec, C. P.); the tree= Tamál, the drug= revâchini sirá, tamál (Mar.); the drug= Makki, iréval-chinip-pál, the oil=makki (Tam); the drug= Révalchini-pál (Tel.); the tree = Arsinagurgi mara, aradal, punar puli; the drug= Tamal (Kan.); the tree = Darámba (Malay.) ​ This is the Gamboge tree, and yields abundant of that pigment. The gamboge of commerce, says Trimen, is obtained from Siam, and is the produce of a variety (Var. pedicellata, Hanb.) of this species, recently raised to the specific rank as G. Hanburii H. F. (Fig. 33. Med Plants. Bentley and Trimen).
Habitat :— Forests of Eastern Bengal, the Khasia Mountains, the Western Peninsula, in Malabar, Canara and Ceylon.
A small pyramidal tree, with spreading branches. Bark smooth brown, young twigs quadrangular. Wood hard, yellowish brown. Leaves 3-4½in., broadly lanceolate or oval, acute at base, subacute, shining, paler beneath; lateral veins very oblique, inconspicuous; petioles ¼in. Flowers greenish white, sessile, in axils of fallen leaves; Male 2 or 3 together, Female solitary; Sepals and petals 4 each, the latter longer; Male flowers :— Stamens monadelphous; filaments combined into a sub-quad- rangular central column, but free at their summits; anthers dehiscing transversely. Female flowers: — Stamens about 12 in a ring round the ovary, connate at base; Ovary globular, smooth; 4-celled; stigma peltate, irregularly lobed and tubercled. Fruit small, ¾in., globose, surrounded at base by persistent sepals, glabrous. Seeds 4, ovoid, kidney-shaped, slightly compressed, testa finely muriculate, blackish-brown.
Parts used :— The gum and branches.
Use:— The gamboge is officinal in the British and Indian Pharmacopœias. It is considered a valuable hydragogue cathartic. It also possesses anthelmintic properties. It is used in dropsical affections, amenorrhea, obstinate constipation, and as a vermifuge.
The stem rubbed with water is a household remedy amongst natives, as a local application to rising pimples and boils, and often cuts them short. 'Dr. Gray in Watt's Dictionary.)
130. G. xanthochymus, Hook. ƒ., h.f.b.i., i. 269.
Syn.: — Xanthochymus pictorious Roxb., 445.
Vern: — Dampel; tamál, (H.) ; Tamál, (B) ; Tepor, Tezpur, ​ Tilnor (Assam); Manho-la (Garo); Dampel, onth, osth. (Bomb); Jhárambi (Mar.); Jwara, memadi tamalumu,chitakamaraku, (Tel.)
Habitat : — Eastern Bengal and the Eastern Himalaya, from Sikkim to the Khasia Mountains, Eastern Peninsula, Western Peninsula, the Circars, and from the Bombay ghats southward . There is a tree in the Victoria Gardens, Bombay.
A medium-sized evergreen tree. Bark brown, ¼in. thick, exfoliating in small round scales. Wood dark-greyish-brown, very hard, and close-grained; concentric bands thin, white, numerous. Pores very scanty, moderate sized, scattered and unevenly distributed. Medially rays fine, white, numerous, but irregular. Yellow gum copious (Gamble). Foliage dense, dark green, shining. Branchlets quadrangular, dilated below the nodes. Leaves thickly coriaceous, oblong or elliptic-oblong, acute; blade S-14in.long, petiole ¾-1 in.long, thick-channelled on the upperside, secondary nerves numerous, parellel with shorter intermediate nerves. Flowers white, fasciculate on thick uneven, axillary protuberances. Pedicels 1 in.. petals ⅓in.. orbicular spreading, thin. Male flowers: Stamens in 5 broad bundles of 3-5, on a fleshy lobed disk. Bisexual: Ovary 5-celled, stigma 5-lobed. Fruit dark yellow, 2-3in. diam, of the size of an apple, 5-celled; subglobose, pointed. Seeds 1-4, oblong.
Use : — The fruit, which is yellow and of the size of a small apple and very acid, sweetish when ripe, edible, is used for the same purposes as that of G. indica; it is dried and made into a kind of Amsúl. In bilious conditions, a sherbet made with about 1 oz. of the Amsul, with a little rock-salt, pepper, ginger, cumin and sugar, is administered (Dymock.)
131. Ochrocarpus longifolins, Benth. and Hook., h.f.b.i., i. 270.
Syn.: — Calysaccion longifolium, Wight.
Nágakésaram-pushpam (Sans.)
Vern. :— Nág-késar-ké-phúl (the flowers), (Hind.); Nágésarer-phúl (the flowers), (Beng.); Surangi, tambra nágkesar (Bomb.); ​ Rân undi, sweet, i.e.. godi undi, und (Koncan); Punnág, suringi (Mar.); Ráti-nág-kesar (Guz.); Nágap-pu, nagashâp-pu, nágésar-pu, (the flowers), (Tam); Sura-poona (Tel); Wanai, laringi (male), púne female', suringi. gardundi (Kan.); Seráya (Malay.)
Habitat: — Forests of the Western Peninsula, from Canara to the Concan.
A large evergreen tree, young branches terete, youngest 4-gonous — "Bark reddish-brown, ¼in. thick, exuding a red gum. Wood red., hard, close and even-grained. Pores moderately broad, very numerous, the distance between them equal to or less than, the diameter of the pores. Annual rings marked by a dark line. Lines of soft texture numerous, but indistinct. Numerous resin-ducts in radial long cells, which appear as shining lines on a horizontal, and black points on a vertical section " (Gamble). Leaves 5-9 by 2-2½in., thickly coriaceous, dark green, base rounded, mid-rib stout, prominent, veins few, indistinct, very slender, united by innumerable venules, which give the dried leaf a very beautifully lacunose appearance; petiole short, stout, ¼in. Flower-buds globose, used to dye silk. Flowers highly fragrant, in dense fascicles. Male and bisexual, ⅔in. diam., on nodes clothed with subulate bracteoles in the axils of fallen leaves, or on the old wood. Pedicels 1 in. slender. Calyx bursting in 2 valves, reflected during the flowering. Petals 4, acute, thin, deciduous, white, tinged yellowish red, almost orange. Stamens many; Style subulate, Sitgma broad, discoid. Fruit obliquely ovoid, pointed, 1 in. long, tipped by the hard pointed style, stipitate, I-seeded. "Flowers often hermaphrodite, and used for dying silk" (Beddome). Flowering time January, to March, in the Konkan forests.
Part used : —The flower-buds. Fruit edible, when ripe, sweet, refreshing.
Uses: — The flower-buds possess astringent and aromatic properties, and are sometimes prescribed medicinally (Dymock.)
The flowers are stimulant and carminative. They are useful in some forms of dyspepsia and in hæmorrhoids. (MOODEEN SHERIFF.) ​
132. Calophyllum inophylhim. Lin., h.f.b.i., i. 273, Roxb. 437. Alexandrian Laurel.
Sans : — Punnága.
Vern.: — Sultána champa, Surpan, surpunka undi (H.); Súltan champâ, punnág (B.); Polong punang, (Uriya); Surangi, purreya, duggerfúl, undi (Sind.); undi (Bomb.); Udi (ditch.); Surfan, undi, surpanka (Dec.); Undi, undelar wundi, surangi, nagchampa, pumag, undag (Mar.); Bintango, punna, Ponna (Mal.); Pinnay, pungam, punnaivirar, punnagam (Tam.); Pùna, púnás, ponna pumágamu, ponna-chettu, ponna- vittulu (Tel.); Wúma pinne, ponna bija(Kan.)
Habitat: — Western Peninsula, Orissa and South India.
An evergreen, middle-sized, ornamental tree or shrub, glabrous. Buds only with minute rusty hairs. " Bark grey or blackish brown, smooth. Wood reddish brown, moderately hard, close-grained. Pores moderate sized, arranged in groups or oblique strings. Medullary rays extremely fine and numerous, bent round the pores. Occasional interrupted concentric lines of darker, but softer tissue, prominent on all sections" (Gamble). Leaves elliptic, elliptic-lanceolate, or obovate, coriaceous; blade 4-8in., by 3-4in., narrowed into petiole, ½-1½in. long, shining on both surfaces; veins many tine. Flowers scented, pure white, ¾to 1in. diam., in axillary racemes; Racemes in upper axils loose, 4-6in. long, shorter than the leaves, lax, few-flowered. Pedicels slender, 1-2 in. Petals 4, like the inner sepals. Stamens numerous; filaments in 4 bundles. Rumphius and Blume say that the petals are sometimes 6-8. Ovary globose, stipitate; style much exceeding the Stamens. Stigma peltate, lobed. Fruit yellow, round, 1 in. diam., smooth, pulpy. The seeds yield oil used for lamps; often cultivated.
Parts used : — The oil of the seeds, and seeds.
Uses:— The kernels of this tree yield a grateful-smelling fixed oil, held by the natives in high esteem as an external application in rheumatism. From the bark exudes a resinous substance, Tacamahaca, said to resemble myrrh, and to be a useful remedy for indolent ulcers. (Pharm. Indica.) ​ The gum which flows from the wounded branches, mixed with strips of the bark and leaves, is steeped in water, and the oil which rises to the surface is used as an application to sore- eyes. Horsfield says that in Java the tree is supposed to possess diuretic properties (DRURY).
Rheede says that the tears which distil from the tree and its fruit are emetic and purgative.
The oil exercises a great beneficial influence over the mucous membrane of the genito-urinary organs, and is therefore highly useful in the treatment of gonorrhœa and gleet. Ex- ternally, it is a good and useful embrocation in rheumatism and gout. The watery paste of the kernel of the seeds, applied to the painful joints and dried by the heat of fire, often affords a great relief in the same diseases, and may be resorted to in the absence of the oil.
Although there is nothing in the sensible properties of this oil to indicate a poisonous character, yet, as far my knowledge extends, it has never been administered internally in this or any other country. Having satisfied myself by personal use that it is neither detrimental to life nor deleterious to health up to a certain quantity, 1 employed it in my practice and found it to be a very valuable drug. It acts as a specific on the mucous membrane of the genito-urinary organs, and its control, therefore, over gonorrhœa and gleet is very considerable. It is so certain and speedy in its action that its good effect in the above diseases is often noticed a few hours after the exhibition of its first dose (MOODEEN SHERIFF.)
The leaves soaked in water are employed as an application to inflamed eyes, in the Archipelago (Dr. Rice, New York). The fixed oil, expressed from the kernels of the seeds, is said to cure scabies (B. Gupta, Pooree.)
According to the Hindoo writers, the bark is astringent and useful in internal hæmorrhages (U. C. Durr.)
The juice of the bark is used as a purgative, and is said to be very powerful in its action. (SURGEON PEACOCK, Nasik.)
In rheumatism, the natives use the oil as an external application (E. A. Morris, Madras). Watt's Dictionary. ​ Oil from the seeds of Calophyllum inophyllum. The seeds contain 22.8— 31.5 H$_2$O and 50.5—55 oil per cent. The oil has a yellowish-green colour, an odour resembling fenugreek, a bitter taste, and, on keeping, fatty glycerides are deposited. It solidifies at 3°, melts again at 8°, and has a sp. gr. 0.9428 at 15°, Reichert-Meissl number 0.13, saponification number 196.0, acid number 28.45, iodine number 92.8, refracto-meter number 76 at 40°; it contains 0.25 per cent, of unsaponiũble matter. The increase in weight due to oxygen absorption, when measured by Livache's method, amounted to 0.25, 0.71, 1.32, and 1.84 percent., after 18, 40, 64, and 136 hours. Treatment with 5 per cent, soda solution removes the resinous constituents. The purified oil solidities at 4°, melts again at 8°, and has Reichert-Meissi number 0.18, saponification number 191, iodine number 86. The fatty acids of the oil are chiefly palmitic, stearie, and oleie. J. Ch. S. Vol. 88 pt. 2, page 277.
The seeds are brownish black, almost spherical, ¾— 1 inch in diameter and consist of an easily-broken shell surrounding a round, soft, whitish kernel which weighs about 4 grms. The kernels contain 13 per cent, of moisture and 55 per cent, of viscous, green, bitter oil.
Some samples of kernels from Bengal contained 3.3 per cent, of moisture and 71.4 per cent, of oil having the Sp. gr. at 15° C. O.950 ; acid value 45.9 ; Saponification value, 193-203 ; iodine value, 97.7.
The oil is excellent for soap making. The residual cake is bitter and therefore suitable for use as a manure.
Bulletin Imperial Institute 1913.
133. G. Wightianum, Wall., h.f.b.l, i. 274.
Syn. : — C. decipiens, Wight; C. Spurium, Chois.
Vern. :— Kalpun, kutt-ponne bobbi, (Kan).; Cheru pinnay, pútengi (Tam.); Tsirou-panna (Mal.); Cherupiani, sarapuna (Bomb.) ; Irai (Mar.)
Habitat .-—Western ghats, from the Konkan to Travancore.
A middle-sized evergreen tree, almost entirely glabrous. "Bark yellow, very characteristic. Wood hard, red. Pores large and moderate-sized, uniformly distributed. Medullary rays very fine, not very distinct. Numerous, interrupted wavy and anastomosing connective bands of soft tissue (Gamble). Young shoots 4-gonal, often pruinose. Leaves rigidly coriaceous, obovate, obtuse or oblong-cuneate ; 2-4 by l¼-2in. ; veins most prominent on the undersurface ; petiole 1/6in. Racemes from the axils of all the leaves and scars of fallen ones, several-flowered, shorter than the leaves. Peduncles and pedicels slender. The Racemes are shorter than the leaves. Flowers ¼-½in. diam. Sepals 4, very thin, strongly-veined. Petals (or 4 small ones ​ visible in the bud, Wight). Fruit 1 by ¾in. ellipsoid. Anderson says that he never found petals in any of the buds he opened.
Medicinal use: — Bouton, in his Medical Plants of Mauritius, says that the resin obtained from this plant acts as a " vulnerary resolutive and anodyne." The oil obtained from the seeds is used as medicine in leprosy and cutaneous affections, and in infusion, mixed with, honey, in scabies and rheumatism (Watt ii. 33.)
134. Mesua ferrea, Linn,h.f.b.i, i. 277 Roxb. 437.
Syn. : — M. speciosa, Chois ; M. coromandeliana, Wight.
Sans. :— Nágakesara.
Vera.: — Nágkesar; naghas ( H. and B.); Nageshvoro, nágeswar (Uriya); Nahor (Assam.) ; Nagchampa; thorlachampa (Bom.); Nágchampa, thorlâ chumpa (Bombay); Nágachampa; nágchámpha (Mar.); Naugal; Mallay naugal; nágap-pu; Nagas- háp-pu (Tarn.,); Naug (Tinnevelley); Nága Kesara; nága kesaramu; gejapushpam (Tel.); Naga sampigi; Nassampige (Kan.); Behetta-cham-pagam; velutta-chenpakam (Mal.).
Habitat: — Mountains of Eastern Bengal, the Eastern Himalaya and the Eastern and Western Peninsulas.
A large evergreen glabrous tree; trunk erect, straight; twigs slender sub-4-angled. " Bark ¼in. thick, reddish-brown, peeling off in flat thin cakes, having a slightly roughened surface. Wood somewhat resembling that of Calophyllum, but much harder and heavier. Heart-wood red, dark, extremely hard. Pores moderate-sized, scanty, often filled with yellow resin, singly or grouped, or in oblique strings of varying length. Medullary rays extremely fine, uniform, equidistant, very numerous. Numerous fine wavy lines of dark-coloured tissue, regular and prominent, but of very different lengths (Gamble). The young shoots at first brilliant red, then pink, gradually passing into dark green (Brandis). Leaves coriaceous, 2-6 by 1½ to 1¾ in., drooping linear-lanceolate, base acute or rounded, dark green and shining above, covered more or less with a fine waxy meal beneath; veins very fine, close-set and equally ​
inconspicuous on both surfaces; petiole ¼-⅓in. Flowers very fragrant, usually terminal and solitary or in pair, nearly sessile bisexual, 3-4in. diam. Flowers, Feb-April. Sepals 4, in 2 rows, thick orbicular, with membranous margins, inner pair largest. Petals 4, imbricate, spreading cuneate obovate, pure white. Stamens indefinite, Anthers as large, oblong, linear, basifixed, golden yellow. Ovary 2-celled, 2 ovules in each cell; style filiform; stigma peltate. Fruit pointed, conically ovoid, 1-1¼in., 2-valved. Valves tough, supported by the enlarged sepals. Seeds 1-4, testa smooth, hard, shining, dark brown; embryo a fleshy homogeneous mass.
Parts used- -The flowers, kernel, bark and leaves.
Use. — The flowers are considered by the Hindu physicians to have astringent and stomachic properties, A paste made of the flowers with butter and sugar, is used in bleeding piles and burning of the feet. (U. C. Dutt.)
The flowers and leaves are used in Bengal as antidote to snake poison (O'Shaughnessy). The bark is mildly astringent and feebly aromatic (Dymock); the oil of the seeds is used as an embrocation in rheumatism in North Canara (Ph. Ind., p. 32), and found useful in the treatment of itch by K. L. Dey.
In many localities, the flowers are used for cough, especially when attended with much expectoration. Rheede states that the bark is given as a sudorific combined with ginger.
Moodeen Sheriff considers the flowers of Mesua fevrrea and Ochrocarpus longifolius to be stimulant and carminative and useful in some forms of dyspepsia and in hæmorrhoids.
The seeds resemble chestnuts in colour and form. The kernel yields 79. 48 p.c. of a brown non-drying oil, partially soluble in alcohol, and gives an orange coloration, with a mixture of sulphuric and nitric acids. The residue contains 24.14 p. c. of proteins. (J. Ch. I, for Aug. 31, 1910, p. 1019.)
The seeds are brown and generally pear shaped ; they consist of a shiny, brittle, woody shell containing a single buff-colored kernel. Shell 34 per cent., kernel 56 per cent, The kernels contain 76 per cent, of reddish brown oil with a sweetish smell and slight bitter taste. The oil became semi-solid on standing at 15° C. Sp-gr. at 15° C. 0'935 ; saponification value, 204 ; iodine value, 90. The oil is useful in soap making. The residual cake is bitter and probably poisonous; it would only be of value as manure. [Bulletin Imperial Institute 1913.]
(Improve this image)
(Improve this image)
(Improve this image)
(Improve this image)
(Improve this image)
(Improve this image)