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Oblong Leaf Salacia
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Oblong Leaf Salacia
ative Photo: Prashant Awale
Common name: Oblong Leaf Salacia • Kannada: ಏಕನಾಯಕ Ekanaayaka • Konkani: धवसी Dhavasi • Malayalam: പൊൻകൊരണ്ടി Ponkorandi • Marathi: धवसी Dhavasi • Sanskrit: पीतिका Pitika • Tamil: பொங்கொரந்தி Ponkoranti • Telugu: అంకుడు చెట్టు Ankudu Chettu, ఎర్ర దొండ Erra Donda • Tulu: ಏಕನಾಯಕೆ Ekanayake Source: Names of Plants in India
Botanical name: Salacia oblonga    Family: Celastraceae (Spike-thorn family)
Synonyms: Comocladia serrata
Oblong Leaf Salacia is a stout climbing shrub with branchlets densely warty. Warts are elongate. Leaves are up to 21 x 8 cm, oblong, pointed or blunt at apex, narrow at base, green when dry, nerves 8-10 pairs, stalk 1 cm long. Stalks bearing inflorescence are short, stout, many-flowered. Flowers are many, greenish yellow. Sepals are 1.5 mm across, circular, petals 2.5 mm long, ovate. Berry is about 4 cm across, orange-red, smooth. Oblong Leaf Salacia is found in evergreen and semi-evergreen forests of South India and Sri Lanka. Flowering: March-May.
Medicinal uses: Salacia has a long history of use as a treatment for diabetes in Ayurveda, traditional Indian medicine. Mugs made from salacia wood are used by people with diabetes to drink water.
Identification credit: regy1984@flickr Photographed at Anmod Ghat, Karnataka.
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