783

Strychnos colubrina L.

Family	:	Loganiaceae
Local name	:	Malayalam - Modirakanjiram, Vallikanjiram
Flowering and fruiting period	:	February-July
Distribution	:	Indo-Malesia
Distribution in Kerala	:	Wayanad, Palakkad, Kozhikode, Kollam, Idukki, Pathanamthitta, Kannur, Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur
Habitat	:	Semi-evergreen and evergreen forests, along banks streams
Uses	:	It is used in the treatment of gonorrhoea, gastropathy, bronchitis, chronic diarrhoea, dysentery, renal and vesicle calculi, diabetes, conjunctivitis, scleritis, ulcers and other eye diseases.
Key Botanical Characters: Tendrillate climbers. Leaves simple, opposite, broadly elliptic, abruptly acuminate, shining, green or black when dry; 3-ribbed, nervules prominent, irregular. Cymes axillary and terminal, peduncled. Flowers many; Calyx lobes ovate, obtuse, ciliate. Corolla greenish yellow, tube 10 mm long, hairy inside, lobes oblong, obtuse. Anthers sessile. Ovary hirsute; ovules many; style 12 mm long, hirsute, stigmas bilobed, globose. Berry globose, glabrous, greenish; seeds ovoid, flattened.