Category: M

Botanical name: Mentha piperita

Other name: Peppermint

Mentha Piperita Oil is the essential oil derived from the leaves of Mentha x piperita. This versatile oil is prized for its aromatic qualities and finds applications as a flavoring agent. Additionally, it is utilized to address ailments related to the digestive and respiratory systems, as well as to alleviate pain.

Medicinal Uses:

• Gastric hypermotility
• Nausea and vomiting
• Functional dyspepsia
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Infantile colic
• Pruritus gravidarum
• Nipple fissures
• Tension headache
• Cognitive performance
• Hirsutism
• Athletic performance

Botanical name: Mentha citrata

Other name: Mentha citrata Ehrh

Mentha, an aromatic herb known as Japanese pudina in India, undergoes steam distillation and filtration of its dried leaves, particularly from the Mentha arvensis variety, to produce mentha oil. This oil can be further processed to yield menthol and various other derivatives.

Medicinal Uses:

• Stomach aches
• Nausea
• Parasites
• Other digestive disorders

Myristica malabarica Lam. (MYRISTICACEAE)

Common names
Kannada: Dodda Jaikai, Kanage, Rampatre.
Malayalam: Pannam panu, Kattu jathi, Chorapali.
Tamil: Pathiri, Kattu jaathi kaai.
Telugu: Ramapatri.

Description: Trees, up to 15 m tall. Leaves elliptic-lanceolate, up to 16 x 5.5 cm, acute at base, subacute at apex. Male flowers in slender, 2-3-chotomous, subumbellate cymes. Perianth segments 3, minutely scurfy-puberulous outside. Filaments and connectives connate in a column; anthers 10-14. Female flowers are arranged in subumbellate cymes with few flowers. The ovary is densely covered in rufous tomentum, and the stigma is large with two lobes. The fruits are subcylindrical, measuring approximately 5 x 3 cm, and display a rusty tomentose covering. The seeds are oblong, and the aril is irregularly lobed and laciniate, appearing yellow.

Flowering & Fruiting: February – August.

Distribution: India: In evergreen forests of Western Ghats below 800 m. Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala. Endemic. A threatened species.

Uses: The yellowish mace is used as an adulterant for true mace (Myristica fragransHoutt.). Wood reddish brown, light, moderately hard, not durable, locally used for building construction; suitable for light furniture, match boxes and splints. Seed used in external application for indolent ulcers; crude fat from seeds analgesic and used in rheumatism.

Myristica dactyloides Gaertner (MYRISTICACEAE)

Common names
Kannada: Kaadu jayikai.
Malayalam: Pattha pam.
Tamil: Kathu jathikai.

Description: Evergreen trees, up to 30 m tall; bark blackish green. Leaves alternate, elliptic to oblong-lanceolate, 16-27 x 5-10 cm, acute or rounded at base, blunty acute at apex, coriaceous, glaucous beneath; petioles 2-4 cm long; nerves 12-17 pairs. Flowers unisexual, in short axillay umbel, yellow, rusty tomentose; perianth lobes 3, connate into obovoid, short ureceolate tube. Male flowers: stamens 12, united; connective prolonged. Female flowers: ovary ovoid, unilocular; style short. The fruit is a dehiscing drupe, occurring in groups of 1-3, and is ovoid, measuring 5-7 x 3-4 cm. The pericarp is thick and powdery brown. There is a single seed, ovoid, reaching up to 3 x 2 cm, with a fleshy aril that is laciniate almost to the base, displaying an orange-red color.

Flowering : November – February.
Fruiting : April – September.

Distribution: India: South W. India. Frequent in evergreen forests of Western Ghats from 250 to 1300 m. Sri Lanka.

Uses: Wood reddish grey, moderately hard and heavy, suitable for tea boxes, matchboxes and splints. In Ayurveda it is used as a substitute for Myristica fragransHoutt.

Myristica fatua Houtt. var. magnifica (Beddome) Sincl.(MYRISTICACEAE)

Description: Lofty trees, up to 30 m tall, trunk when young furnished with large aerial roots from the trunk. Leaves oblong to oblong-elliptic, 25 – 60 x 7.5-20 cm, rounded at base, acute to acuminate at apex, silvery beneath. Flowers in clusters, small, dioecious, ovoid, up to 2 cm long, densely rusty tomentose. Perianth lobes 3, rusty-tomentose outside. Male flowers in 10-20-flowered cymes or umbels of 2-3 cm long. Stamens 10. Female flowers are arranged in 4-6-flowered cymes or umbels, each measuring 1-2 cm in length. The oblong fruits reach up to 10 cm in length and are densely tomentose. The seeds are subcylindric or ellipsoid, measuring up to 5 cm long, and they have an aril that is deeply and finely laciniate, appearing orange-red.

Flowering & Fruiting: June – October.

Distribution: India: In swampy areas of evergreen forests of Western Ghats. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Endemic. A threatened taxon.

Murraya koenigii (L.) Sprengel (RUTACEAE)

Common names
Kannada: Kari bevu.
Malayalam: Kurri veppilla.
Sanskrit: Surabhininiba.
Tamil: Kari vempu, Karuveppilai.
Telugu: Kari pakku.

Description: Large shrubs or small trees, up to 6 m tall; bark green or greyish. Leaves alternate, imparipinnate, up to 50 cm long; petioles and rachises densely white-pubescent; leaflets alternate, 15-27, asymmetric, ovate to lanceolate, 2-8 x 1-3 cm, acute/oblique at base, shortly acuminate or tapering at apex, the tip usually notched, dark green above, paler beneath, glandular – crenulate along margins; secondary nerves 4-10 pairs. Flowers in up to 7 x 8 cm, terminal corymbose cymes, scented. Calyx saucer shaped; sepals 5, fused at base, glandular. Petals 5, valvate, linear, obtuse, greenish-white, glandular. Stamens 10; filaments subulate; anthers dorsifixed, pale greenish. Disc annular, slightly conical, obscurely 5-lobed. Ovary oblong-ovoid, 2-locular; style slender below, dialated below the stigma; stigma capitate, glandular. The berries are subglobose, around 0.8 cm in diameter, turning purplish to black when ripe, with whitish, mucilaginous pulp. The seeds are ovoid-oblong and typically green, numbering 1 or 2.

Flowering : March – April.
Fruiting : May – July.

Distribution: India: Mostly in moist deciduous forests in the subtropical N.W. Himalayas, N.E. Peninsular India. Also in cultivation. Jammu & Kashmir, Himachala Pradesh, Uttara Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka and S. China.

Uses: The leaves are used to flavour curries. Plant tonic, stomachic; leaf febrifuge, used in diarrhoea, dysentery and eruptions, for checking vomiting, relieves kidney pain; leaf, bark and root stimulant, carminative and used in diabetes. In Ayurveda the root and leaf are used in dropsy, dysentery and diarrhoea.

Moullava spicata (Dalz.) Nicolson (CAESALPINIACEAE)

Common names
Kannada: Gajjiga balli.

Description: Robust woody climbers with scattered, recurved prickles. Leaves bipinnate, rachis 20-35 cm long; pinnae 4-6 pairs, 7-13 cm long; leaflets 5-7 pairs, oblong, ca 4 x 2 cm, rounded to slightly cordate at base, subacute or rounded at apex. Flowers in 35 – 50 cm long narrow racemes; rachis brown pubescent. Calyx red, densely puberulous. Petals 5, obovate – spathulate, 7-9 mm long, yellow. Stamens 10, alternately long and short; filaments densely pilose at base. The ovary is densely pubescent. The pods are linear-oblong, swollen above the seeds, and constructed between them, with thickened sutures. The seeds, numbering 2-4, are obovate-oblong, measuring approximately 8 x 1.5 cm, and have a hard, thick testa.

Flowering & Fruiting: November – March.

Distribution: India: Frequent in Western Ghats. Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala. Endemic.

Uses: Roots are used in pneumonia and the bark in skin diseases.

Morinda citrifolia L. (RUBIACEAE)

Common names
Kannada: Maddi, Paavate, Tagachae.
Malayalam: Katta-pitalavam, Mannanatti.
Sanskrit: Ashyka.
Tamil: Minaamaram, Manjanatti.
Telugu: Maddi, Togaru.

Description: Small trees, up to 6 m tall with greyish bark; branchlets terete. Leaves opposite, elliptic, 10-12 x 7-12 cm, acuminate or obtuse at base, acute at apex, bright green, glabrous, shining; main nerves 8-10 pairs; petioles ca 1.5 cm long; stipules broad, obtuse. Flowers in dense ovoid ca 5 cm long leaf opposed solitary heads, white, scented. Calyx limb truncate, lobes 5. Corolla infundibuliform, lobes 5. Stamens 5; filaments hairy; anthers partly exserted. Ovary 2-locular; style slender; stigma tusiform. The fruit is a syncarpium, smooth and glossy, measuring approximately 2.5 cm in diameter. It turns white when ripe, and the pyrenes within are ovoid and compressed. The seeds are obovoid, with a diameter of 5 cm.

Flowering & Fruiting : July – November.

Distribution: India: Hills of south India and Andaman Islands, Darjeeling Terai and outer hills. Malacca, Maingay.

Uses: Wood yellowish brown, fairly hard, used for turnery and for making plates and toys. Roots source of ‘al dye’ used for dyeing cotton, silk and wool red, purple and chocolate shades; now virtually abandoned since the advent of synthetic dye stuffs. Tree is lopped for fodder. Grown as a shade tree and as support for pepper vines. Root cathartic; root and leaf febrifuge, used in gout; leaf tonic; fruit emmenagogue, used in lencorrhoea, sapraemia, asthma, dysentery, spongy gums and throat complaints.

Mimusops elengi L. (SAPOTACEAE)

Common names
Kannada: Bakula, Renje.
Tulu: Renje.
Malayalam: Elengi, Ilanni.
Sanskrit: Bakula.
Tamil: Magilan, Ilanji.
Telugu: Pagada, Vakulamu.

Description: Large evergreen trees, 20-30 m tall with smooth scaly bark. Leaves alternate, elliptic, elliptic-oblong, 5-12 x 3-6 cm, acute or rounded at base, shortly acuminate at apex, glabrous; petioles 1-2.5 cm long. Flowers solitary or in axillary clusters, white, fragrant. Calyx lobes 8, 4 outer ovate-lanceolate, 4 inner narrower. Corolla-tube short, lobes about 24, in 2 series, the inner series of 8, the outer of 16 lobes, white. There are 8 stamens alternating with 8 staminodes, each with short filaments. The ovary is 8-locular, with a short style and an inconspicuous stigma. The fruit is a yellow, ovoid, or elliptic berry, measuring approximately 3 x 2 cm when ripe. It contains a solitary, shining, brown seed.

Flowering & Fruiting : January – September.

Distribution: India: Common from coastal plains to semi-evergreen forests, up to 920 m. Sri Lanka, Malaya.

Uses:

• The edible fruits also yield oil, which is utilized for both edible and lighting purposes. Wood reddish or brownish white, very hard, used for building purposes, piles, bridges, carts, agricultural implements, boats, oars, masts, spars, rice pounders, crushers, oil mills, furniture, cabinet work, panels, tools, turnery, picture-frames, musical instruments and walking-sticks. A perfume is distilled from the fragrant flowers. Often planted as an ornamental tree. Also grown as an avenue or shade tree. The fragrant flowers are used for making garlands and perfume is distilled from them.
• Bark used as tonic, febrifuge; leaf antidote for snakebite; flower expectorant, used in constipation, smoked in asthma; pulp of ripe fruit used in diarrhoea and dysentery; lotion from unripe fruits and flowers used for smearing on sores and wounds; bark and pulp of ripe fruit astringent; seed purgative; bark and seed coat used for strengthening gum and enter into the composition of various herbal tooth powder, under the name of “Vajradanthi” where they may be used along with tannin containing substances like catechu (Acacia catechu (L. f.) Willd.), pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) bark etc. The important preparations of Mimusops is ‘bakuladya taila’ applied to gum and teeth for strengthening them.

Mitragyna tubulosa (Arn.) Havil. (RUBIACEAE)

Common name
Malayalam: Malan thumba.

Description: Deciduous trees, up to 15 m tall. Leaves opposite, elliptic-oblong or ovate-lanceolate, 5-12 x 2-4 cm long, cordate at base, acuminate at apex, pubescent beneath; main nerves 10-12 pairs; petioles ca 2.5 cm long; stipules large, obovate. Flowers in globose axillary and terminal heads, purple. Calyx limbs tubular, truncate, lobes 5. Corolla 5-lobed. Stamens 5, on the throat of the corolla tube. The ovary is 2-locular with a filiform style, and the stigma is mitriform. The fruit is a glabrous, ribbed capsule, forming a globose head and measuring approximately 2 cm across. Numerous flattened seeds are present.

Fruiting : December.

Distribution: India: Western Peninsula, West Coast, Travancore in both evergreen and deciduous forests, often in grassy lands at the foot of the hills. Sri Lanka.