
Symplocos
cochinchinensis
(Lour.) S. Moore
subsp.
Jaurina (Retz.) Noot.
SYMPLOCACEAE
S.
spicata
Roxb.
S.
spicata Roxb. var. laurina (Relz.) C.B.Clarke
Vernacular names:
Hindi -
Lodh
Kannada - Boodaganni, Changa, Manjatte
Malayalam - Pachotti
Sanskrit - Lodhrah
Tamil - Kamb/i vetti, Pithakkottai, Vaspa maram
Threat
status:
Lower Risk
near threatened - KA
Lower Risk
least concern - KL & TN
Habit:
Trees
Habitat:
Shola
borders, slopes and along riversides from wet deciduous to shola
forests
Altitude:
300 - 2200
m
Distribution: Global:
India to
Malaysia, China and Japan. National: Widely
distributed in evergreen forests from Himalayan to southern
India and Shola forests of Western Ghats. Regional:
Very common in the moist to evergreen forests of Karnataka,
Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Description:
Medium
sized trees, 8-18 m tall, about 1 m girth. Bark
smooth, light grey, thin, about 4 mm thick. Blaze
creamy white.
Wood
white, soft and even-grained. Branchlets hairless. Leaves
alternate, egg-shaped to elliptic-Ianceolate, 5-16 x 3-6
em, base acute, apex rounded to acute-acuminate, margin toothed
with rounded to saw-like teeth, leathery, glossy, distinctly
stalked, hairless; lateral nerves 6-8 pairs.
Flowers
bisexual,
stalkless, in simple or branched axillary spikes, about 8 mm
across, white, fragrant. Drupes globose or
conical, about 8 x 6 mm, faintly ribbed, smooth, crowned with an
apical ring, ripening purplish blue. Seeds 1-3,
oblong.
Phenology: Flowering:
July to
October;
Fruiting:
February
to May. Stray flowers and fruits seen almost throughout the
year.
Medicinal uses:
Stem bark
is used in the treatment of uterine complaints, vaginal diseases
and menstrual disorders. Useful in treating diarrhoea,
dysentery, eye diseases, fever, cough, ulcers, swellings,
menorrhagia and leucorrhoea. A decoction of the bark is used as
a gargle for giving firmness to spongy and bleeding gums.
Trade
information:
Local and
regional. Stem bark is used as a substitute for 'Lodhra' (Symplocos
racemosa) in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Priced at Rs.4/Kg. (Kerala,
1993).
Mode of
propagation:
By seeds
and stem cuttings
Special
characters:
Mature
leaves turn yellow and form a yellow carpet under the tree.
Fresh leaves taste sour. The new flush of leaves is purplish
pink. Stems and branch lets always covered with greenish yellow
lichen patches.