| Black Varnish Tree |
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Botanical name: Holigarna arnottiana Family: Anacardiaceae (Cashew family)
Synonyms: Holigarna racemosa Hohen. ex Engl., Holigarna longifolia Wight & Arn.
Synonyms: Holigarna racemosa Hohen. ex Engl., Holigarna longifolia Wight & Arn.
Black Varnish Tree is a a large tree, up to 35 m
tall. Bark is finely fissured and pustular. Branchlets are stout,
round, hairless. Latex is white turning to black. Leaves are simple,
alternate, arranged spirally, clustered at twig ends. Leaf-stalks are
0.8-2.5 cm long with a pair of spurs, planoconvex in cross section.
Leaf blade is 10-25 x 2.5-7.6 cm, inverted-lanceshaped, obovate, tip
blunt to slightly tapeing, base narrow to gradually narrowing, margin
entire, leathery, hairless, midrib raised above, secondary nerves 10-20
pairs, tertiary nerves net-veined. Flowers are borne in panicles, 12-24
cm long, golden yellow pubescent, in leaf axils or at branch ends.
Flowers are polygamous, greenish white. Fruit is obliquely ovoid,
smoothm rounded at tip, 3 cm long, wholly enclosed in obconic hypocarp,
1-seeded. Black Varnish Tree is endemic to Western Ghats, from Central
and South Sahyadris.
Medicinal uses: 
In Ayurveda, the plant is believed to be helpful in treatment of
inflammation, arthritis, hemorrhoids, obesity, tumor, cancer, and skin
diseases.
In Ayurveda, the plant is believed to be helpful in treatment of
inflammation, arthritis, hemorrhoids, obesity, tumor, cancer, and skin
diseases. | Identification credit: Shrikant Ingalhalikar, Prashant Awale | Photographed along Kumta Sirsi Road, Karnataka. |
• Is this flower misidentified? If yes,