1405

 Gnidia glauca (Fresen.) Gilg

Synonym	:	Gnidiaeriocephala Wall. ex J.Graham
Family	:	Thymelaeaceae
Local name	:	English- Fish Poison Bush Malayalam-  Nanju,Nangu,Nanjinar,Nanchu
Flowering and fruiting period	:	January-May
Distribution	:	India, Sri Lanka and Africa
Distribution in Kerala	:	Palakkad, Idukki, Malappuram, Wayanad, Kozhikkode
Habitat	:	Evergreen, dry deciduous and shola forests
Uses	:	A decoction of the boiled root is drunk as a treatment of indigestion. The root powder, mixed with skimmed milk, is taken orally for seven days for the treatment of rabies. The bark and leaves are used for the treatment of blisters, swellings and contusions. An alcohol extract of the root showed strong in-vivo inhibitory activity against P-388 leukaemia in mice. Extracts of the fresh bark exhibited larvicidal activity against Aedesaegypti
Key botanical characters: Trees, to 7 m high; branchlets angular and pubescent, becoming terete, glabrous and brown with age; leafscars prominent. Leaves simple, alternate, crowded towards the apex of branchlets, estipulate; petiole 2-3 mm long, slender, pubescent; lamina 7-11 x 2-2.5 cm, linear-oblong, base attenuate, apex acute, margin entire, glabrous above, puberulent beneath, coriaceous; lateral nerves 6-10 pairs pinnate, slender, faint, intercostae reticulate, faint. Flowers bisexual, bright yellow, in terminal white silky compact heads surrounded by an involucre of silky bracts; pedicels 2 mm, densely pilose; calyx tube to 1.5 cm, densely long pilose without; lobes 5, 3 mm, oblong, pilose without; petaloid appendages 8, yellow, terete, fleshy; stamens 8-10, in 2 rows; ovary superior, sessile, oblong, 1-celled; style filiform, stigma capitate. Fruit a berry, 4 mm long, ellipsoid, densely pilose, enclosed in the calyx; seed brown, ridged laterally.