1221

 Madhuca  longifolia var. latifolia (Roxb.)A.Chev

Synonym	:	Madhuca indica J.F.Gmel.i
Family	:	SAPOTACEAE
Local name	:	Malayalam-Irippa English-.South Indian mahua
Flowering and fruiting period	:	March - June
Distribution	.	Sri Lanka, India, Tropical Himalaya
Distribution in Kerala	:	Idukki, Palakkad, Pathanamthitta
Habitat	:	Moist deciduous forests
Uses	:	used against heart diseases, leucorrhea, menorrhagia, polyuria, bronchitis, and tonsillitis.
Key botanical characters:  Medium-sized to large much-branched deciduous trees. Leaves crowded at apex of year's growth, 6-15 x 1.5-4 cm, narrowly oblong, elliptic, oblanceolate or obovate, rounded to acuminate at the apex, cuneate at the base, glabrous when mature, midrib and petiole silky hairy at first; lateral nerves about 10-12 pairs; venation reticulate; petioles slender, 1-2.5 cm long. Flowers solitary in axils of small deciduous bracts; pedicels slender, 3-5 cm long, somewhat thickened toward apex, glabrous, at first erect then drooping. Sepals ovate, 8 x 6 mm, acuminate, the outer pair usually nearly glabrous and darker, the inner finely tometose and paler. Corolla yellowish, whitish or yellowish green, fleshy; tube inflated, 8 mm long; lobes 8-12, oblong, about as long as tube, obtuse, erose. Anthers 16-24, those of the upper whorl sessile, hairy. Style exserted 2 cm. Fruit yellow, oblong or oblong-ellipsoid, 33.5 x 1.7-2.3 cm; seeds ochraceous, ovoid, slightly compressed, one edge straight, the other curved, with short curved beak at both ends, shining.