Category: Uses and benefits

Anogeissus latifolia (DC.) Wallich ex Guill & Perr.(COMBRETACEAE) Common nameKannada: Dindiga. Distribution: Deciduous trees. Leaves alternate or subopposite, elliptic-oblong or elliptic ovate upto 10 x 7 cm, obtuse, acute or retuse at apex, rounded to cordate at base, glabrous, lateral nerves 9-14 pairs. Heads solitary or in short cymes; peduncle pubescent. Calyx cream often tinged…

Ancistrocladus heyneanus Wallich ex Graham (ANCISTROCLADIACEAE) Description: Climbing shrubs characterized by their woody hooked branches. Leaves alternate, usually crowded at apex, oblanceolate or obovate, up to 20 x 6.5 cm, narrowed at base, acute at apex, gland-pitted. Flowers bisexual, minute, in dichotomously branched axillary or subterminal panicles, yellowish green. Calyx lobes 5, oblong, enlarged, rounded…

Anamirta cocculus (L.) Wight & Arn. (MENISPERMACEAE) Common namesKannada: Chiplukotte, Kage mari.Sanskrit: Kakmari.Tamil: Kakka-kolyvirai. Description: Large woody stragglers with drooping branches; bark thick, corky. Leaves alternate, ovate to broadly ovate, up to 28 x 24 cm, cordate or truncate at base, acute to acuminate at apex; axils of principal nerves beneath with tufts of hairs;…

Antidesma menasu Muell.-Arg. (EUPHORBIACEAE) Common names:Kannada: Kadivala soppu Description: The trees reach heights of up to 10 meters; their branchlets, petioles, and peduncles are densely covered in pubescence. Leaves alternate, elliptic-oblong, up to 20 x 7 cm, acute or slightly rounded at base, acuminate or rarely acute at apex, chartaceous, glabrous. Flowers in terminal or…

Antiaris toxicaria Lesch. (MORACEAE) Common nameKannada: Ajjana patte . Description: Large trees; young parts pubescent. Petiole up to 1 cm; leaf blade elliptic-oblong, acuminate, rounded – cordate or truncate up to 16 x 11 cm. Scabrid and shining above sub coriaceous; lateral nerves 8-11 pairs. Male receptacle orbicular, reflexed; peduncle velvetly; perianth spathulate, hairy without…

Alangium salvifolium (L. f.) Wangerin subsp Common namesSanskrit: Ankola.Kannada: Ankole, Guddada goni.Tamil: Alangi.Malayalam: Kimri.Telugu: Ankolamu. Description: A straggling, armed, evergreen shrub. Leaves alternate, broadly elliptic-ovate, subcordate at base, acuminate at apex, with distinct domatia in axils of veins on lower surface. Flowers axillary, bisexual, ca 2 cm long, white. The fruit is a drupe, ovoid…

Alstonia scholaris (L.) R. Br. (APOCYNACEAE) Common namesKannada: Haale, Maddale.Tulu: Paale mara.Malayalam: Mukampala, Chhatnia.Sanskrit: Sapta-parna.Tamil: Wodrase.Telugu: Edakala palaEnglish: Devil’s tree. Description: Large tree, up to 30 m tall, with milky latex; bark dark grey, rough, lenticellate. Leaves 4-7 (rarely more) in a whorl, rarely opposite, oblong-lanceolate or obovate, 10-20 x 4-6 cm, acute to slightly…

Albizia lebbeck (L.) Benth. (MIMOSACEAE) Common namesKannada: Baage.Malayalam: Vaga.Tamil: Vagei.Telugu: Dirasana. Description: Tall deciduous trees, reaching heights of 15-20 meters, characterized by their light-colored bark. Leaves abruptly bipinnate; rachis ca 10 cm long with a gland near base of petiole and one below uppermost pair of pinnae; pinnae usually 2 pairs; leaflets 3-4 pairs, obliquely…

Ailanthus triphysa (Dennst.) Alston (SIMAROUBACEAE) Common namesKannada: Dhupa, Hal-maddiTamil: PeruMalayalam: Peru-marattoliTelugu: Perumarum Description: Lofty deciduous trees, up to 40 m tall. Leaves crowded, mostly paripinnate; leaf rachis 30 – 55 cm long; leaflets 14-22, opposite, subopposite or alternate, falcate, obliquely ovate-oblong, oblong-lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate, up to 15 x 4 cm, acute-acuminate at apex, entire or…

Aglaia lawii (Wight) C.J. Saldanha (MELIACEAE) Description: Trees reaching heights of up to 15 meters; the young sections, inflorescence, calyx, and fruits are enveloped in yellowish-brown lepidote scales. Leaves up to 40 cm long; leaflets 5, laterals opposite, some times alternate, ovate-lanceolate or elliptic, up to 16 x 6 cm, oblique at base, acute at…