Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Mimusops elengi L.


English Name : Bullet Wood, Spanish cherry

Family : Sapotaceae

Origin : India, Sri Lanka, Burma

Description
It is a large evergreen tree with about 16 m in height and dark grey bark. Leaves are coriaceous, shining, elliptic and glabrous with undulate margins. The flowers are white and fragrant in axillary fascicles of 2 to 6 flowers and drooping. Calyx-lobes are 8 and ovate-lanceolate. Corolla lobes are in 2 circles in 2 series, the inner one is consisting of 8 to 10 lobes. Stamens are 8 and the ovary is hairy and 6 to 8 celled. The fruits are ovoid, 1.7 to 2.0 cm long and 1-seeded berries and reddish yellow when ripe.

Habitat
Common along roads, northern and peninsular India and the Andaman Islands.

Parts Used : Seed, root, leaf, bark, fruit and aerial part

Herb Effects
Kills sperm and alleviates spasms (seed), diuretic (aerial part), astringent, tonic, antipyretic.

Active Ingredients
Lauric, myristic, capric, stearic and palmitic acids (seed oil), saponins (seed), taraxerol, lupeol, alpha-spinasterol, quercitol and beta-sitosterol (root, seed and aerial part).

Medicinal Use
In snakebite (leaf), diarrhea and dysentery (fruit pulp) and as a tonic (bark powder), to treat dental disorders and toothache, constipation in children (seeds), for cleaning the teeth (Young twigs).

Dosage
Decoction: Boil the leaves of Mimusops elengi with water. Filter the decoction. Gargle with this lukewarm decoction thrice a day for three days (for toothache).
Juice (leaves): Put two to three drops of this juice inside the nose twice a day until cured (for Ozena).
Powder of flower : 1-2 Masha.
Decoction of bark : 50-100 ml.

Reference

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