886
Limonia acidissima L.
Synonym
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Schinus limonia
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Family
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Rutaceae
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Local name
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English-Elephant apple,Monkey fruit
Malayalam -Vilarmaram
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Flowering and fruiting
period
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December-June
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Distribution
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Indo-Malesia
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Distribution in kerala
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Thiruvananthapuram, Kottayam, Thrissur, Wayanad, Ernakulam
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Habitat
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Dry deciduous forests, also grown in homesteads
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Uses
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The ripe fruits display cooling, astringent and tonic
properties, and are used as a stomachic.
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Key botanical characters
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Deciduous trees, to 20 m high, bark dark-grey or black, deeply cracked
longitudinally; thorns straight, to 2.5 cm, axillary. Leaves imparipinnate,
alternate, 1-3 in a cluster, estipulate; rachis 60-80 mm long, stout,
glabrous, often narrowly winged; lamina obovate, base cuneate or acute, apex
obtuse, margin entire, glabrous, pellucid-punctate, coriaceous; Flowers
polygamous, dull red, in axillary cymes; calyx small, flat, 5-toothed,
pubescent with out, deciduous; petals 5, free, spreading;. Fruit a berry,
globose, whitish-brown, rind hard and woody; seeds many.
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