479

Morinda pubescens Sm.

Family	:	Rubiaceae
Local name	:	English - Morinda tree Malayalam – Manjapavitta
Flowering and fruiting period	:	March-June
Distribution	:	Indo-Malesia
Distribution in Kerala	:	All Districts
Habitat	:	Moist and dry deciduous forests, also in the plain
Uses	:	The plant is used for eczema, fever, ulcers, glandular swellings and digestive disorders especially in children.
Key Botanical Characters: Deciduous trees, up to 12 m high, bark pale brown. Leaves simple, opposite, decussate; stipules interpetiolar, connate, sheathing, bifid at apex, lamina elliptic-lanceolate, oblanceolate or elliptic-oblong, base acute, cuneate or attenuate, apex acute to  acuminate, margin entire, pubescent or tomentose, chartaceous; lateral nerves pinnate; intercostae reticulate, slender. Flowers bisexual, white, in terminal, globose heads.  Calyx limb truncate; corolla tube 1 mm long, villous within; lobes 4, oblong, recurved; stamens 4, attached to the throat of corolla; anthers exserted; ovary 2-celled or incompletely 4-celled, inferior; style 4 mm; stigma 2 lobed. Fruit a syncarp, globose, pyrenes 4, oblong; seeds not winged.