Category: P

Pinanga dicksonii (Roxb.) Blume (PALMAE)

Common names
Kannada: Kaadu adike.
Malayalam: Kanakamugu.

Description: Unarmed very slender, smooth, green stemmed palm, 5-7 m tall, 3-5 cm in diam., forming clumps by suckers. Leaves 1-1.5 m long; leaflets numerous; sessile, elongate, broadly linear, 30-60 x 1.5 – 2.5 cm praemorse; 5-7 nerved. Spadix from the axils of fallen leaves, refracted, ca 20 cm long. Spathe simple, rigid, compressed. Flowers monoecious. Sepals 3. Petals 3. Male flowers: stamens numerous, 20-30; filaments very short; pistillodes. In female flowers, there are 6 staminodes, and the ovary is 1-loculed with 3 sessile stigmas. The fruit is ellipsoid, measuring 1.5-2 x 0.6-0.8 cm, and appears bluish or purplish. Each fruit contains a solitary, ellipsoid, or ovoid seed.

Flowering & Fruiting: February – July.

Distribution: India: South W. India. Common in evergreen forests of Western Ghats in moist places, up to 1000 m. Endemic.

Uses: The fruits are sometimes used by the poor as a substitute for betel-nut (Areca catechu L.). Dried husk used in flatulence, obstructive diseases of stomach and dropsy.

Phyllanthus emblica L. (EUPHORBIACEAE)

Common names
Kannada: Bettada nelli kaayi, Nelli kai.
Tulu: Nellikai.
Sanskrit: Aamalaka.
Malayalam & Tamil: Nelli.
Telugu: Usiriki.

Description: Small or medium-sized deciduous trees. Leaves subsessile, distichous, closely set along the branchlets, linear-oblong, ca 1 x 0.2 cm, truncate or subcordate at base, apiculate obtuse at apex glaucous beneath. Flowers in axillary fascicles, greenish yellow; male flowers numerous, female flowers few. Perianth lobes 6. Stamens 3; filaments connate into a column. The ovary is 3-celled, and the style arms are twice bifid. The fruits are globose, around 1.5 cm across, fleshy, exhibiting 6 obscure vertical furrows, and are greenish-yellow. There are 6 seeds.

Flowering : January – March.
Fruiting : September.

Distribution: India: Throughout tropical India on open grasslands and in deciduous forests. Sri Lanka, Malaya Islands, China.

Uses: The fruit is edible, acid at first then sweet. It is rich in vitamin C and minerals. It is made into a sweet meat with sugar and used as a pickle. Wood is useful for poles, agricultural implements and furniture. Fresh root galactogenic, given in jaundice; bark astringent, deobstruent, febrifuge, antiseptic, used in stomach troubles like diarrhoea, dysentery, dyspepsia, colic, also used in dropsy and diseases of urino-genital system; latex used in opthalmia; latex, leaf and root used in oedematous swelling and ulcers; leaf stomachic and diuretic. Fresh root given in digestive troubles of cattle.

Phoenix loureirii Kunth (PALMAE)

Common names
Tamil: Inji.
Telugu: Konda-ita.

Description: Erect palms, up to 3 m tall and 15-25 cm diam.; densely covered with the bases of the fallen petioles; root suckers developing when the primary stem has been injured. Leaves pinnate 2-3 m long; leaflets entire, linear, 20-40 x 1 -2 cm, longitudinally folded; lower leaves often transformed into up to 8 cm long spines; petioles short, up to 2.5 cm broad. Flowers unisexual. Spadices ca 1 m long, erect, much branched; spathes 30-60 cm long. Calyx cup-shaped, 3-toothed. Corolla-lobes 3. Male flowers: numerous. Stamens 6; filaments very short; anthers linear. In female flowers, there are 3 or 4 staminodes. The ovary is 3-loculed with sessile stigmas. The fruiting spadix is approximately 1 m long, highly compressed, and orange. The fruit is a drupe, oblong-ellipsoid, measuring 1-2 cm in length, initially orange and turning black when ripe. Each fruit contains a solitary, pale brown seed.

Flowering & Fruiting: October – March.

Distribution: India: Throughout, in hilly dry regions, up to 2000 m. China.

Uses: The fruits are edible. The leaves are plaited into mats.

Persea macranta (Nees) Kosterm. (LAURACEAE)

Common names
Kannada: Gulamavu, Kurma, Seeme maavu.
Tulu: Kulurmavu.
Malayalam: Uravu.
Tamil: Kolla mavu.

Description: These evergreen trees reach heights of 15-20 meters and feature blackish bark. The leaves are arranged alternately, penninerved, and elliptic-oblong or elliptic-lanceolate, measuring 6-19 x 3-8 cm. They have rounded or acute ends, a shiny upper surface, and a glaucous underside. The petioles are 2-3 cm long, and there are 8-12 pairs of main nerves. Flowers in 15-20 cm long copiously branched panicles near the ends of the branches, bisexual, greenish yellow. Perianth lobes 6, oblong or linear-oblong, subacute, silky-pubescent inside and outside; tube very short, greenish-yellow. Stamens 9, filaments hairy. Ovary ovoid, sessile; style narrow; stigma discoid. Fruit a berry, globose, ca 2 cm across, smooth, dark green dotted with white, ultimately becoming black. Seed solitary.

Flowering & Fruiting: December – April.

Distribution : India: South India. Frequent in moist deciduous to semi-evergreen forests of Western Ghats. Sri Lanka.

Uses: Wood reddish white, rough, used for planking and other purposes. Bark purgative, used in asthma, consumption and rheumatism; leaves applied to ulcers.

Pandanus unipapillatus Dennst. (PANDANACEAE)

Description: These shrubs or small trees, featuring few prop roots, have linear-ensiform leaves measuring up to 200 x 6 cm. The margins and midrib of the leaves are prickly. The male inflorescence is terminal and spicate, with bracts that are linear-lanceolate or lanceolate and yellowish, and the lower ones are flagelliferous. Spikes dense, up to 11 cm long. Stamens many, umbellate on stamenophores; anthers apiculate. Female inflorescence terminal, pedunculate, bracteate. Carpels simple; styles flattened, usually bent at right angles, 2-lobed. Fruit (syncarp) single, oblong-rounded, up to 25 cm long, pendulous, organge yellow when ripe; drupes club-shaped, up to 5 cm long, apex pyramidal.

Flowering: August – October.

Distribution: India: Common in the coastal belt and Western Ghats along banks of streams, canals and marshy places. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Endemic.

Pandanus kaida Kurz (PANDANACEAE)

Description: These shrubs or small trees, characterized by few prop roots, have linear-ensiform leaves measuring up to 30 x 8 cm, with prickly margins and midrib. The male inflorescence is terminal and spicate. The bracts are linear-lanceolate or lanceolate, yellowish, and the lower ones are flagelliferous. Bracts linear-lanceolate or lanceolate, yellowish, the lower ones flagelliferous. Spikes up to 11 cm long. Stamens many, umbellate on stamenophores; anthers apiculate. Female inflorescence terminal, pedunculate, bracteate. Carpels in phalanges of 2-4. Fruits (syncarps) oblong-ellipsoid, up to 30 x 15 cm, pendulous; phalanges cuneate, up to 5 x 2 cm, centrally produced into 1-4 styles.

Flowering : September – October.

Distribution: India: Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Common near paddy fields in Udupi district. Sri Lanka.

Pandanus foetidus Roxb. (PANDANACEAE)

Description: These shrubs, characterized by branching and having few prop roots, bear ensiform leaves measuring up to 200 x 5 cm. The margins of the leaves feature incurved, widely spaced prickles, with the upper twin pleats at the leaf apex and midrib being prickly. Male inflorescence terminal, spicate. Bracts boat-shaped, yellow, fragrant, lower ones abruptly caudate at apex. Spikes sessile, ca 10 cm long. Stamens crowded, directly attached to the axis and not on stamenophores; anthers apiculate. Female inflorescence terminal, on erect peduncle, fragrant. Bracts as in male inflorescence. Carpels free; stigma linear, on the dorsal side of spiniform style. Fruits (syncarps) 1-3, globose, up to 12 cm long; durpes oblanceolate, up to 3.5 cm long including the style.

Flowering & Fruiting: September –January.

Distribution: India: Assam, Kasia Hills and Western Peninsula. Myanmar.

Uses: Fruits are sometimes eaten. The fibre from the leaves are used for nets, brushes etc.

Pandanus fascicularis Lam. (PANDANACEAE)

Common names
Kannada: Kedige, Mundige, Mundovu.
Malayalam: Kaitha.
Tamil: Tazhai.
Telugu: Mogali.

Description: These extensively branched shrubs or small trees feature numerous, thick prop roots. The leaves are ensiform, reaching up to 250 x 8 cm, caudate-acuminate, and have prickly margins and midrib, displaying a glossy green appearance. Male inflorescence spicate, pedunculate, fragrant. Bracts linear-lanceolate or lanceolate, yellowish, lower ones flagelliferous. Spikes 5-11, up to 10 cm long. Stamens many, racemose on stamenophores; anthers cuspidate. Female inflorescence solitary, terminal, pedunculate, globose or ellipsoid. Bracts whitish yellow, lower ones leaf-like. Carpels confluent in groups (phalanges) of 5-15; stigma U- or V- shaped. Fruit a syncarp, up to 25 cm long, orange or reddish; phalanges turbinate, up to 8 x 4.5 cm.

Flowering & Fruiting: August – October.

Distribution: India: Sundarbans, Peninsular India, especially near the coast and Andaman Islands. Sri Lanka, Myanmar.

Uses: The leaves are used for mat- and umbrella- making and their fibres for cordage and fishing lines. The roots are used in basket and brush making. Often cultivated as a hedge plant and also for its fragrant inflorescence. Root and flowers are used in rheumatism, headache, anorexia, indigestion, constipation, polyuria, eye diseases and leprosy; leaf used in leprosy, syphilis, smallpox, scabies, leucoderma, diseases of the heart and brain; anthers used in earache, diseases of the blood; aromatic oil from bract stimulant, antispasmodic and used in rheumatism.