1357
Gnetum ula Brongn.
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Synonym |
: |
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Family |
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Gnetaceae |
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Local name |
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English- Gnetum Malayalam- Odal |
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Distribution |
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Indomalaysia, tropical parts
of West Africa, Fiji and the northern regions of South America |
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Distribution in Kerala |
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All districts |
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Habitat |
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Moist deciduous forests,
Evergreen forests |
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Uses |
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The stem part of the plant
is used traditionally to treat jaundice and other
disorders |
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Key botanical characters: Dioecious,
evergreen, mostly woody vines, rarely shrubs or trees; stems with swollen
nodes. Leaves opposite, petiolate, without stipules, simple, elliptic, with
pinnate veins and entire margins; usually with drip tips. Both male and
female megastrobili terminal or lateral, sometimes arranged in dense,
cauliflorous clusters on old stems. Each megastrobilus consists of a straight
axis above a basal pair of opposite, connate bracts; the axis bears usually
three to six superposed cupules, each of which contains several to many male
or female strobili. The male strobilus consists of a stamen and perianth, the
female strobilus of an ovule with 2 integuments and perianth. These
structures are usually associated with angiosperms, one of the points that
traditionally places Gnetum in an ambiguous state
intermediate between the gymnosperms and angiosperms. Seeds drupelike,
enclosed in a red, orange, or yellow, fleshy (rarely corky) false seed coat;
female gametophyte tissue copious, succulent. Cotyledons 2. Germination
epigeal. The wood contain tracheids and is otherwise typical of gymnosperms,
but also contains vessels. |
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