Careya arborea Roxb. (LECYTHIDACEAE)
Common names
Kannada: Daddala, Kavalu mara.
Tulu: Daddala.
Malayalam: Perzha.
Tamil: Ayma, Kumbi.
Telugu: Gadava.
Description: Deciduous trees up to 10 m tall. Leaves alternate, crowded at the ends of branches, obovate, up to 22 x 15 cm, cuneate at base, rounded or shortly acuminate at apex, margins crenate. Flowers in spikes, sessile, large, showy, ca 5 cm across, yellowish white. Calyx 4-lobed, lobes ovate. Petals 4, elliptic-oblong, up to 5 cm long. Stamens very numerous in several rows, slightly connate at base; filaments very long, innermost and outermost often without anthers. The ovary is positioned as inferior, topped by a ring-shaped disc. The large berries are spherical, reaching sizes of up to 6.5 centimeters across, green in color, and adorned with the enduring lobes of the calyx. Inside, numerous seeds are surrounded by a fleshy pulp.
Flowering & Fruiting: March – July.
Distribution: India: Almost throughout. Sri Lanka.
Uses: Wood used for agricultural implements, cabinets, gunstocks, house posts and planks, hoops etc. Bark is fibrous and can be used for making coarse cordage. It has been used in odanance depots as a substitute for English beech in fuses. Root and bark used in diseases of vata and kapha; bark and fruit astringent, demulcent, antidote for snakebite; leaves used for ulcers; a decoction of fruits given to promote digestion.