Tree Details

Image
Botanical Name	Mimusops elengi L.
Family Name	Sapotaceae
Common Name	Spanish cherry
Tamil Name	மகிழம்
Life Form	Tree
Distribution	Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and the America.
Botanical Distribution	Habit: Tree, up to 10 m tall; bark dark grey. Leaves: Leaves alternate, ovate, 3.5 - 5 x 2.5 - 4 , cuneate at base, entire, undulate at margin, acuteacuminate at apex, glabrous; ca. 8 - 10-pairs; petiole 2 cm long. Flower: Flowers ca. 1.5 cm across, cream, solitary, axillary, fascicles. Calyx-lobe 6, lanceolate, tomentose. Corolla 24-lobe, tube short in 2 series. Stamens 8; filament 02 mm long, tomentose; anther narrowly oblong. Fruit: Ovary globose, 04 mm long, villous; 6 - 8loculed; ovules1 per cell; style slender, 05 mm long; stigma fimbriate. Berries ovoid, 3 cm long, orange, pubescent.
Flowering and Fruiting	Mar. - June.
Key Compounds	β-amyrin,taraxerone, taraxerol, α-spinasterol, sodium ursolate and betulinic acid
Medicinal Use	Gastroprotective, Antibacterial, Antifungal, Anticariogenic, Free radical scavenging, Antihyperglycemic
At the Campus	Botanical garden