Category: P

Pterocarpus marsupium Roxb. (PAPILIONACEAE)

Common names
Kannada: Raktha honne, Volle honne;
Tulu: Benga.
Malayalam: Venga.
Tamil: Vengai.
Telugu: Yegi.
English: Indian kino tre.

Description: Large deciduous trees, 20-25 m tall; bark thick, yellowish – grey with vertical cracks. Leaves alternate, imparipinnate, rachis 15-25 cm long; leaflets 5-7, alternate, elliptic-ovate to oblong, ca 11×7 cm, subacuate at base, obtuse, rounded, truncate or more or less retuse at the apex, glabrous; petioles 0.5 – 1 cm long. Flowers in 12-15 cm long, terminal, paniculate racemes. Calyx tube campanulate, dark brown. Corolla 1.5 cm long, petals all long-clawed, yellow. Stamens 10, monadelphous becoming isodiadelphous. The ovary is shortly stalked, featuring a filiform style and a capitate stigma. The fruit is a nearly circular pod with a broad wing, accompanied by a lateral sub-basal beak, measuring approximately 4 cm across. It has a convex shape and is pubescent. The seed is small.

Flowering : May – October.
Fruiting : July – February.

Distribution: India: South W. India. Common in dry deciduous forests, up to 1500 m.Sri Lanka.

Uses:

• The wood, displaying a yellowish-brown hue with darker streaks, is exceptionally hard and durable. It finds versatile use in construction, serving as material for doors, window frames, rafters, beams, posts, furniture, agricultural implements, railway sleepers, electric transmission poles, and pit props in mines. It is used in the construction of railway carriages, wagons, carts and boats. It is also used for drums, tool handles, camp furniture, mathematical instruments, picture-frames, combs, sport rifles and parts of textile looms. The wood is used as a fuel. The tree yields a gum-Kino which exudes when an incision is made through the bark.
• Kino is utilized in dyeing, tanning, and printing processes, while the leaves serve as excellent fodder. Additionally, the leaves are highly valued as a nutrient-rich manure in arecanut plantations. Kino from incision in bark astringent, used in diarrhoea, haemorrhage, haematuria, tongue diseases, locally in leucorrhoea; flower and Kino from bark febrifuge; leaf used externally on boils, sores and other skin diseases.
• The wood is purported to exhibit antidiabetic effects, and a decoction derived from it is prescribed to reduce blood sugar levels. Containers crafted from this wood are recommended for diabetic patients to store water. The efficacy of the water as an antidiabetic agent is believed to enhance when stored overnight in these containers and consumed in the morning.

Pterospermum rubiginosum Hyene ex Wight & Arn. (STERCULIACEAE)

Common names
Malayalam: Malam-thodali.
Tamil: Chittilepolavu.

Description: The trees can reach heights of up to 25 meters, with slender and pendulous branchlets. The leaves are arranged alternately, obliquely ovate-lanceolate, reaching dimensions of up to 10 x 6 cm. They have an obliquely cordate base, an acuminate apex, and are covered with appressed brown stellate hairs on the lower surface. The petioles extend up to 6 mm in length. Flowers solitary, axillary, white, fragrant. Calyx lobes 5, linear, revolute, rusty pubescent outside, silky within. Petals 5, obovate-oblong to linear, up to 3 x 2 cm. staminal column adnate to gynophore; fertile stamens 15 in 5 groups of 3 between the staminode and opposite. The sepals; stamens ca 1.5 cm long, staminodes ca 2 cm long. Ovary inserted on top of staminal column on the gynophore 5-locular; stigma obscurely 5-lobed. Fruit a dehiscing capsule, oblong, up to 8 x 2 cm, beaked, 5-angled, downy. Seeds winged, brown.

Flowering : September – February.
Fruiting : May – July.

Distribution: India: In evergreen forests up to 1000 m. Assam, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Uses: Wood pink, hard, close-grained, used for house building and for making boats, matchboxes and splints. Wood suitable for paper-pulp.

Pterospermum reticulatum wight & Arn. (STERCULIACEAE)

Common names
Malayalam: Mala vuram.
Tamil: Muli polavu, Thopuli.

Description: Trees, up to 25 m tall. Leaves elliptic-obovate, up to 12 x 9 cm, cuneate to obliquely subcordate at base, acuminate at apex, entire or coarsely toothed near apex, underside covered with cream-coloured mealy tomentum dotted with darker minute stellate hairs, 3-nerved at base. Flowers 1-3, axillary,ca 3 cm across, yellowish. Bracteoles laceriate. Sepals 5, linear – lanceolate, connate at base, rusty stillate-hairy outside. Petals 5, obovate-oblong, recurved. Stamens 15 in 5 groups of 3 between the 5 filiform staminodes; connective produced into a terminal point. The ovary is positioned at the apex of the staminal column and is 5-locular. The capsules are either ovoid or oblong, measuring 5-7 x 3 cm, with obtuse 5-angled contours. They are slightly constricted at the base, stellate-pubescent, and open through loculicidal 5-valved dehiscence. In each locule, there are four seeds, featuring wings above.

Flowering: December – March.
Fruiting: March – November.

Distribution: India: In evergreen forests of Western Ghats at low elevations. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Endemic.

Uses: Sometimes planted as roadside tree.

Pterospermum diversifolium Blume (STERCULIACEAE)

Common names
Malayalam: Pambaram.
Tamil: Mooli, Vattapolavu.

Description: The trees can reach heights of up to 20 meters, with young parts displaying a fine rusty pubescence. The leaves are arranged alternately, obovate-oblong to elliptic, reaching dimensions of up to 30 x 15 cm. They feature a cordate base, an acuminate apex, and a hairy underside. The petioles extend up to 1.5 cm in length, and the stipules, measuring up to 13 mm, are caducous. Flowers up to 15 cm long, on short axillary 1-3- flowered peduncles, yellowish white, scented. Calyx lobes 5, linear, rusty tomentose outside, silky inside. Petals 5, spathulale. Staminal column adnate to gynophore; fertile stamens 15 in 5 groups of 3 between the staminodes and opposite sepals; stamens 8-10 cm long; staminodes 10-11 cm long. Gymnophore 2.5-3.5 cm long. Ovary inserted on top of staminal column on the gymnophore, 5-locular; stigma fusiform. Fruit a dehiscing capsule, up to 25 x 4 cm, woody, sulcate, 5-angled, abruptly constricted at base and apex, brown. Seeds slightly rhomboid ca 1 x 1 cm compressed with 2.5 – 3 cm long wing at one end,brown.

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

Distribution: India: Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Malesia.

Uses: Bark chewed with betel as a masticatory.

Psychotria flavida Talbot (RUBIACEAE)

Description: Small shrub, up to 2 m tall. Leaves opposite, elliptic-oblong, 10-25 x 5-10 cm, cuneate at base, acute or shortly acuminate at apex, coriaceous, glabrous; main nerves 10-12 pairs; petioles 0.5-1.0 cm long; stipules ovate, acuminate, deciduous. Flower in terminal peduncled cymes, cyme branches greenish, turning bright yellow in fruit. Calyx truncate; teeth obscure or 0. Corolla tube short, densely hairy in the throat inside, lobes 5. Stamens 5; inserted at throat of corolla, included. Ovary 2-locular; style short; stigma bifid. The fruit is a drupe, either ellipsoid or subglobose, measuring 6 mm in diameter. It is compressed, crowned with the calyx, and turns black when ripe. The seeds are planocomy, rugose, black, with a ruminate albumen.

Flowering & Fruiting : May – August.

Distribution: India: Abundant in the evergreen forests of Western Ghats and W. Coast. Endemic.

Psychotria dalzellii Hook. f. (RUBIACEAE)

Description: These sizable shrubs can reach a height of up to 6 meters. Their leaves are arranged oppositely, obovate-oblong in shape, measuring 12-24 x 5-8 cm. The leaves have a cuneate base, a rounded or obtuse apex, and a coriaceous, glabrous texture. The main nerves are organized in 12-20 pairs, while the petioles are 1.0-2.0 cm long. Additionally, the stipules are broadly ovate and approximately 2.0 cm long. Flowers in terminal peduncled brachiate cymes, white. Bracts and bracteoles large and persistent. Calyx broadly campanulate, lobes 5. Corolla tube very short, densely beared in the throat, lobes 5. Stamens 5, included, attached to the throat of corolla. Ovary 2-locular; style short; stigma bifid. Fruit a drupe, ovoid or subglobose, ca 1 cm diam., smooth, succulent, black when ripe, crowned by the calyx-limb. Seeds planoconvex, rugose, albumen ruminate.

Flowering & Fruiting : May – October.

Distribution: India: Western Peninsula. Endemic.

Poeciloneuron indicum Beddome (GUTTIFERAE)

Common names
Kannada: Baleega.
Malayalam: Vayala.
Tamil: Puthangkolli, Vadinangu.

Description: Large evergreen trees, up to 50 m tall; older trees often buttressed with stilt roots; bark grey or dark grey to brown, rough; latex yellow. Leaves elliptic, elliptic-oblong or rarely lanceolate, 10-25×4-6.5 cm, rounded or cuneate at base, acuminate at apex, coriaceous, glossy dark green; secondary nerves very close, equidistant, curved towards margins; petioles 1- 4 cm long. Flowers in terminal panicles, up to 2 cm in diameter, yellowish white, creamy or white, fragrant. Sepals 5, ovate, imbricate, slightly puberulous outside. The petals are elliptic to obovate in shape, numbering five. The stamens, arranged in two whorls, can be up to 20 in total, with slightly connate filaments at the base. The fruit is a capsule, either ellipsoid or globose, measuring 2.5-4 cm across, displaying ribs, and having a dull pinkish color. Each capsule contains a solitary, fleshy seed, approximately 2×1.5 cm in size.

Flowering : March – May.
Fruiting : September – December.

Distribution: India: Common in evergreen forests of Western Ghats up to 1200 m, on the wet slopes, often forming clumps. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Endemic.

Uses: Wood reddish brown, hard, used especially for railway sleepers, posts, poles, planks, beams, trusses, joints, rafters, agricultural implements, house construction, bridge building, walking-sticks, rice pounders etc. Root made into a paste in goat’s milk and taken internally on the first and second day of menstruation acts as an oral contraceptive.

Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre (PAPILIONACEAE)

Common names
Kannada: Honge mara, Karanja.
Malayalam: Pugu, Punnu, Pungam.
Tamil: Kanuga.
Telugu: Ponga.

Description: Nearly evergreen trees, up to 15 m tall with greyish green bark. Leaves imparipinnate, 10-20 cm long; petioles 2-5 cm; leaflets opposite, 5-9, ovate to ovate-elliptic, up to 12 x 7 cm, acute or rounded at base, shortly acuminate at apex; petioles 0.4 – 0.6 cm long; main nerves 6-8 pairs, prominent beneath. Flowers in ca15 cm long, axillary racemes. Calyx campanulate. Corolla 1-1.5 cm long, pinkish-white; standard suborbicular. Petals glabrescent. Stamens 10, monodelphous. The ovary is subsessile, with an incurved style and a capitate stigma. The fruit is an indehiscent pod, obliquely oblong, approximately 6 x 3.5 cm in size, tapered at both ends, and smooth. The seed is solitary and reniform.

Flowering : March – June.
Fruiting : June – December.

Distribution: India: Western Peninsula. Common along river banks up to 1000 m. Often planted near villages and as an avenue tree. Throughout tropical Asia.

Uses:

• The seeds produce a valuable fatty oil commonly utilized for burning. The wood starts off white and ages to a cream color, exhibiting moderate strength but lacking durability. It finds applications in crafting yokes for bullock carts, ploughs, solid cartwheels, rafters for thatched cottages, as well as in the construction of oil mills, furniture, and various small turnery articles. The wood is used as a fuel. The wood ash is reported to be used in dyeing. The stem bark is fibrous and is used for cordage. Leaves are lopped for fodder. The leaves are used as green manure. The dried flowers furnish manure for pot plants. The oil-cake left after expression of oil has high nitrogen content and is mostly used as manure. It is often grown as a roadside avenue tree. The tree is sued for afforestation, especially in water sheds, in drier part of the country.
• The seeds yield Pongam oil, which serves various industrial and medicinal purposes, including applications in leather dressing, soap and candle production, as well as for lubrication and illumination. Notably, a spray composed of a two percent solution of pongam oil-resin soap has been reported as effective in combating both the nymph and adult stages of the green bug affecting coffee plants. The plant is a host for lac insects.
• The twigs are used for cleaning teeth. Juice of roots used for cleaning teeth, foul ulcers, strengthening gums and closing fistulous sores; a paste of roots is used as a local application in scrofulous enlargements; juice of roots with coconut milk and lime water used in gonorrhoea; juice of roots by itself can also be given internally in gonorrhoea and urethritis; root rubbed into a paste with rice water is applied locally in enlarged scrotum and scrofulous enlargements; bark given internally in bleeding piles; decoction of the bark useful in beriberi; leaf galactagogue; juice of leaves prescribed in flatulence, dyspepsia, diarrhoea and gonorrhoea; a hot infusion of leaves used as medical bath for relieving rheumatic pains, and in treating foul ulcers and sores; leaves and chitraka (Plumbago zeylanica L.) mixed with pepper and salt are powdered and given with curd in leprosy; powdered seed and rind of pod are valued as febrifuge and tonic and used in bronchitis and whooping-cough; the seeds crushed to a paste are applied over leprous sores, skin diseases and painful rheumatic joints; seed oil (Pongam oil) is applied externally to scabies, herpes, sores, leucoderma and other skin diseases, internally it is used as stomachic and cholagogue in cases of dyspepsia with sluggish liver, mixed in equal parts with lemon or lime juice it is useful in the treatment of rheumatism and psoriasis.
• In Ayurveda the bark, leaf and seed are used in oedema, poisoning, piles, worm infection, leprosy, uterine disorders, wounds, polyuria, diseases of head and stomach disorders. Oil named “Prithvisara Taila” with the expressed oil from the seeds and other ingredients is used in skin diseases and ulcers. An ointment known as “Tiktadya Ghrita” or “Tiktaka Ghritam,” formulated with leaves, fruits, and various other components, is employed for treating ulcers, wounds, and the initial phases of leprosy.

Polyalthia fragrans (Datz.) Beddome (ANNONACEAE)

Common names
Kannada: Gowrimara.
Malayalam: Chella, Kodangi.

Description: Trees, 15-25 m tall; bark greenish grey, blotched with white; young parts tawny tomentose. Leaves elliptic to oblong-lanceolate, up to 27 x 12 cm, acute or rounded at base, acute to shortly acuminate at apex. Flowers in short tomentose cymes on old wood, branches, pale yellow, fragrant. Sepals 3, small, orbicular. Petals 6 in 2 series, subequal, linear, up to 4 cm long; inner petals slightly longer. There are numerous stamens, and the anther connective is globose at the tip. The carpels are numerous and strigose, with a broad, slightly bifid stigma. The fruitlets are ovoid, measuring up to 3.5 cm in length, and they are hoary-tomentose. Each fruit contains a single seed that is orbicular-ovoid.

Flowering : November – January.
Fruiting : March – May.

Distribution: India : In semi-evergreen and evergreen forests of Western Ghats, from 500 to 1000m. Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Endemic.

Pittosporum dasycaulon Miq. (PITTOSPORACEAE)

Common name
Kannada : Boogri

Description: These small trees have young branches that are densely tomentose. The leaves are elliptic-lanceolate, reaching up to 15 x 4 cm, with a cuneate base and an acute apex. The flowers are arranged in densely brownish tomentose, short, corymbose panicles. Sepals 5, ovate, pilose outside. Petals 5, greenish yellow, oblong, up to 10 x 2.5 mm. Stamens 5. Ovary ovoid, tomentose. Capsules globose, ca 1.3 cm across, densely tomentose, 2-valved; valves woody with transverse corrugations inside. Seeds usually 6-8, black or pinkish black.

Flowering & Fruiting: September- February.

Distribution: In semi-evergreen and moist deciduous forests of Western Ghats. Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Uses: Extract of the stem bark shows antibacterial and antifungal properties.