Garcinia
morella (Gaertn.) Desr.
CLUSIACEAE
(Guttiferae)
Vernacular names:
Hindi - Tarnal
Kannada - Devana huli, Pan puli, Arsina gurgi
Malayalam - Chigiri, Karukam puli, Pinnar puli
Marathi - Tamala, Mahabala
Sanskrit - Kankustha, Tamala
Tamil -
Makki,
Salai puli
Telugu -
Reval chinni,
Pasupuvarne
Threat status:
Vulnerable (A 1 c) - KA & TN
Lower Risk near threatened - KL
Habit:
Tree
Altitude:
650 - 1300
m
Habitat:
Moist
deciduous to evergreen forests
Distribution; Global:
India, Sri
Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and
Malacca. National:
Goa,
Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Northeast Assam and
Megalaya. Regional:
Common in the Western Ghats in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Description:
Trees,
7-15 m tall, with spreading branches and dense crown.
Wood
yellow
mottled, hard. Bark brownish grey, thin, about 5 mm
thick, smooth, exuding brilliant, dark yellow, sticky, thick
latex. Blaze yellow. Branchlets 4-angled, hairless,
horizontal. Leaves opposite, elliptic-egg-shaped, about
7-15 x 4-8 cm, base acute, apex rounded to shortly acuminate,
margin entire, hairless, shiny; lateral nerves 8-15 pairs,
unequally parallel, obscure; leaf stalks up to 1 cm long, stout,
thickened at base. Male, female and bisexual flowers are
separated, succulent, stalked, pinkish red. Male flowers
2-3 together in leaf axils and on old branches, about 8
mm long, faintly fragrant; female flowers axillary,
solitary, equal to or larger than male flowers. Berries
1.5-2.5 cm across, globose or rarely ovoid, hairless,
shiny, smooth, stalkless, pinkish brown when ripe; pulp sweet,
acidic. Seeds 1-4, kidney-shaped to ovoid,
laterally compressed, brown.
Phenology: Flowering:
November
to March. Fruiting: April to July
Medicinal uses:
Commonly
called Svarnaksiri indicating the golden yellow juice. It
is light bitter tonic, astringent and anthelmintic. Cures
dropsy, hydragogue, drastic cathartic, rheumatism, constipation,
dysentery, colic and other intestinal affections. The golden
yelow exudate is used for treating blisters, indolent ulcers,
leprosy and other skin infections. Seeds are used to relieve
cough, catarrh affections of the throat, pulmonary mucous
membrane and asthma. Seed oil is applied externally to ulcers,
herpetic eruptions and other skin diseases. All parts of the
plant reportedly posses antibacterial activity.
Trade
information:
Local and
regional. The resin/exudate was priced at Rs.629.40/Kg. (Kerala,
1993).
Mode of
propagation:
By seeds
and grafts
Special
characters:
Easily
identified by its smaller globose fruits.
