Hydnocarpus wightiana
| Chaulmoogra | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Malpighiales |
| Family: | Achariaceae |
| Genus: | Hydnocarpus |
| Species: | H. wightianus |
| Binomial name | |
|
Hydnocarpus wightianus Blume |
|
Hydnocarpus wightianus (or more commonly Hydnocarpus wightiana) or Chaulmoogra is a tree in the Achariaceae family. Hydnocarpus wightiana seed oil has been widely used in Indian medicine and Chinese traditional medicine for the treatment of leprosy. It entered early Western medicine in the nineteenth century before the era of sulfonamides and other antibiotics for the treatment of several skin diseases and leprosy. The oil was prescribed for leprosy as a mixture suspended in gum or as an emulsion.
Common name: Jangli Almond
Hydnocarpus pentandrus (Buch.-Ham.) Oken Hydnocarpus pentandrus Family: Flacourtiaceae (Coffee Plum family) Synonyms: Chilmoria pentandra, Hydnocarpus laurifolia
In India: It grows in tropical forests along western Ghats, along the coast from Maharashtra to Kerala, Assam, Tripura, often planted on road sides in hilly areas.
Other countries: The tree is found in South East Asia, chiefly in Indo Malayan region. cultivated in Sri Lanka, Nigeria and Uganda.
This is a tree up to 10 m (33 ft) tall. The tree is deciduous and as well as evergreen too. Bark is brownish, fissured; blaze pinkish. Branch lets are round, minutely velvet-hairy. Leaves are simple, alternate, carried on 0.7–2.2 cm (0.28–0.87 in) long stalks. Leaves are 8 cm–23 cm × 3.5 cm–10 cm (3.1 in–9.1 in × 1.4 in–3.9 in), usually oblong to elliptic-oblong, tip long-pointed, often falling off, base narrow, margin toothed, papery, hairless. Midrib is raised above, secondary nerves 5−7 pairs. Flower s are borne in short cymes or solitary, in leaf axils. Petals are white. Berry is woody, round, 6–10 cm (2.4–3.9 in) across usually brown tomentose, black when young; seeds numerous The flowering takes place from to January to April. Flowers are greenish white in color and grow solitary or recemes.
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Wikipedia