589


Toddalia asiatica (L.) Lam.

Synonym
:
Toddalia asiatica var. floribunda (Wall.) Kurz
Family
:
Rutaceae
Local name
:
English-  Forest pepper
Malayalam-  Kanthamkolunthu
Flowering and fruiting period
:
September-July
Distribution
:
Indo-Malesia and Africa
Distribution in Kerala
:
All Districts
Habitat
:
Evergreen and shola forests, also in scrub jungles.
Uses
:
Used medicinally by Venda herbalists. The fruit is used by the Massai as a cough remedy and the roots in the treatment of indigestion and influenza. The leaves are used for lung diseases and rheumatism.
Key botanical characters:
Stragglers, the stem scrambling by the sharp, recurved prickles. Leaves trifoliolate; leaflets sessile, , ovate to oblong-lanceolate, apex obtuse or acute, base acute, margins shallowly crenulate, thin-coriaceous; petiole to 2.5 cm, often prickly beneath. Panicles axillary, Sepals small, deltoid. Petals oblong, cream coloured, glandular. Stamens 3 mm long.  Fruit subglobose, apiculate, glandular, orange colour when ripe; seeds 3 or 4, subreniform.



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