Symplocos racemosa Roxb. (SYMPLOCACEAE)
Common names
Kannada: Bala loddugina mara.
Tulu & Malayalam: Pachotti.
Sanskrit: Batabhadra, Balipriya.
Tamil: Velli-lethi.
Telugu: Lodduga, Sapara.
English: Sapphire berry, Sweet leaf.
Description: Evergreen trees, 10-15 m tall; bark often marked with white patches. Leaves crowded at the ends of the branches, elliptic-oblong or elliptic-lanceolate, 8-16 x 3-6.5 cm, narrowed at base, acute or acuminate at apex, glandular-serrate, crenate or subentire, glabrous on both sides, polished and shining above; nerves 6-10 pairs; petioles 0.6 – 1 cm long. Flowers in 8-18 cm long axillary racemes, white, fragrant. Calyx glabrous, lobes 5. Corolla lobes 5. Stamens numerous, in 5 phalanges; filaments united in bundles, filiform. The ovary is 2-locular, and the style, which is thick, features a ring of hairs and orange-colored glands at the base, with a capitate stigma. The fruit takes the form of a drupe, ranging from ellipsoid to ovoid or oblong, measuring 1-1.5 x 0.6 cm. It typically contains 1-3 oblong and hard seeds.
Flowering & Fruiting: October – May.
Distribution: India: Western Peninsula. Common in evergreen and semi-evergreen forests of Western Ghats, up to 1300 m. South E. Asia.
Uses: The leaves and primarily the bark yield a yellow dye, employed as a mordant in conjunction with other dyes. Additionally, it serves as a component in a red powder utilized during the Holi festival. In calico-printing and leather dyeing, it functions as an auxiliary substance. Bark astringent, aphrodisiac, emmenagogue, tonic, used in diarrhoea, dysentery, leprosy, liver complaints, dropsy, diseases of blood, miscarriage, vaginal ulcers and discharges, ophthalmia and conjunctivitis, decoction employed to stop bleeding of gums; along with sugar bark is used in menorrhagia and other uterine disorders; root bark; leaf, fruit and seed are used in haemorrhage, burning sensation, polyuria, diabetes and for alleviating vata.