588

Terminalia paniculata Roth

Family	:	Combretaceae
Local name	:	English-  Flowering murdah Malayalam-  Maruthu
Flowering and fruiting period	:	August-February
Distribution	:	Peninsular India
Distribution in Kerala	:	All Districts
Habitat	:	Moist and dry deciduous forests, also in the plains.
Endemic/Exotic	:	Endemic to Peninsular India
Uses	:	Internally, the bark powder is used in treating fever and diseases of Pitta and Kapha doshas. It reduces inflammation. Externally, It helps in Wound healing. It helps in faster healing of fractured bones.
Key botanical characters:   Deciduous trees,, bole often fluted; bark 15-20 mm thick, surface brown, rough, vertical fissures shallow, fibrous; young parts silky pubescent; branchlets reddish. Leaves simple, lower leaves subopposite, upper alternate, 10-24 x 5-10 cm, elliptic, oblong, ovate, elliptic-oblong or ovate-oblong, apex acute or acuminate, base round, obtuse, cordate or oblique, margin entire, rusty pubescent when young and glabrescent when mature, coriaceous, 2 sessile glands beneath the base of the lamina or at the junction of petiole and lamina; petiole 12-15 mm long, stout, slightly grooved above, glabrous; lateral nerve 5-15 pairs, pinnate, prominent, arched towards the margin, prominent, intercostae reticulate, obscure. Flowers bisexual, white, sessile, 6-12 mm across, in axillary and terminal panicles, tomentose; bracteoles 2-5 mm, linear-lanceolate, recurved. Calyx tube, constricted above the ovary, pubescent, lobes 5, cream, triangular, villous within. Petals 0. Stamens 10 in 2 rows; filaments 3-4 mm; disc 5-lobed, villous. Ovary 1 mm, inferior, 1-celled; ovules 2 or 3, pendulous; style to 4 mm, subulate, stigma terminal. Fruit a drupe , reddish-brown, rusty tomentose, with one large and 2 small wings; seed one.