Acronychia pedunculata (L.) Miq. (RUTACEAE)
Common Names
Tamil: Muttanari
Malayalam: Vidu kaneli
Description: Small evergreen trees, up to 8 m tall; bark grey, glossy, smooth or lenticellate. Leaves opposite, 1- foliolate, 6.5 – 21 cm long; petioles 1-3 cm long, horizontally grooved above, swollen at both ends; leaflet blade elliptic-obovate or elliptic-oblong, up to 19 x 9 cm, acute to cuneate at base, abruptly and shortly acuminate at apex, entire, gland-dotted, glabrous secondary; nerves 12-20 pairs. Flowers in axillary or terminal 5 – 18 cm long paniculate corymbose cymes, greenish white. Sepals 4, connate below, suborbicular, obtuse, puberscent, persistent. Petals 4, valvate, linear-oblong from a broader base, obtuse at apex, concave, glabrous, cream-yellowish. Stamens 8, inserted at base of disc; anthers basifixed. Disc 8-angled. Ovary 4 – lobed, 4-locular, each with 2 ovules. The fruit is a drupe, typically subglobose, ovoid, or ellipsoid, measuring up to 1.2 cm across. When ripe, it appears green, later transitioning from a dark-brownish hue to black as it dries. The seeds, numbering between 2 to 4, are ovoid and green.
Flowering and Fruiting: February- May.
Destribution: India : In evergreen and semi-evergreen forests at altitudes ranging from sea level to 2065 m. Uttara Pradesh, West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Tripura, Orissa, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, N. Vietnam, S. Vietnam, China, Sumatra, Malaya peninsula, Borneo, Philippines, Celebes and Papua.
Uses: The tender leaves are used as condiment. Charcoal obtained from the wood burns clean and is therefore preferred by goldsmiths. The leaves yield an aromatic essential oil. Root and bark used in external application for sores and ulcers; bark tonic and used in scabies.
