Coriaria nepalensis

Coriaria nepalensis is a shrub growing in the foothills of Himalayas. It blooms in spring and has beautiful yellow flowers and red fruits in summer.

Common names
In India, this plant is known in English as masuri berry, tanner's tree, mansur shrub; in Hindi as masuri, makola, masurya; in Nepali, macchaino.

Description
It is a shrub, 1.5-2.5 metres tall. Flowers are in groups (inflorescences) and they are male or female but in the same plant; their color is yellow. It blooms from February to May.

Fruits are red to dark purple when mature. They look like berries but they are small nuts (achenes) protected by enlarged and colored petals. Fruits are produced from May to August but they cannot be eaten because their seeds are poisonous.

The number of chromosomes is 40.

Where it grows
C. nepalensis grows in southern slopes of the Himalayas (Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan), usually between 800 and 2500 m.

This species was also found in southern China in mountain slopes at 200–3200 m high. It has been found in the Chinese provinces of Gansu, Guangxi, Guizhou, Henan, Hong Kong, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan.

Other websites
 The Biodiversity of the Hengduan Mountains Project (Photo of red and dark purple fruits)

References

Category:Cucurbitales
Category:Shrubs