Dysoxylum malabaricum Beddome ex Hiern (MELIACEAE)
Common names
Kannada: Bili agilu.
Description: Trees, 30-40 m tall; bark grey with white warts. Leaves imparipinnate, 30-35 cm long; leaf rachis up to 35 cm long; leaflets 4-5 pairs, elliptic-oblong, 5-23 x 4-8 cm; secondary nerves 10-20 on each side. Flowers in 10-20 cm long axillary panicles, crowded near ends of branches, white, fragrant. Calyx deeply 4 – lobed; lobes more or less obtuse. Petals 4, linear-oblong, subacute, pubescent outside, imbricate. Staminal tube tubular or urceolate, more or less 4 -angled, with 8 deep emarginate crenatures; anthers 8, included. Disc cup-shaped, crenulate and ciliate on margin, pubescent inside. Ovary white-tomentose, 4-locular with 2 collateral ovules in each. The fruit is a pyriform capsule, measuring 5-6.5 cm across, displaying four longitudinal furrows and a bumpy surface, colored in a bright yellow hue. Inside, there are 3-4 seeds, each with a slightly three-angled shape; their reddish-brown testa covers them.
Flowering & Fruiting: February – June.
Distribution: India: Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Endemic.
Uses: Timber valuable. Wood is used to cure rheumatism; wood oil is used in treating ear and eye diseases.
