Ceriscoides turgida

(Roxb.) Tirveng

RubiaceaeFruitLeavesShoots

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(c) Milind Girdhari, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Milind Girdhari

iNaturalist · cc-by-nc
(c) Shiwalee Samant, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

What to Eat

Edible parts: Fruit, Shoots, Vegetable

The ripe fruit are eaten fresh or cooked and used as a vegetable.

Where to Find It

A tropical plant. It grows in dry deciduous forests in the Ghats in India.

Asia, India, Indochina, Laos, Myanmar, SE Asia, Sri Lanka, Thailand,

Countries: United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Brunei, Bhutan, China, Georgia, Indonesia, Israel, India, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, North Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Laos, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Mongolia, Maldives, Malaysia, Nepal, Oman, Philippines, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Syria, Thailand, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Taiwan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen

How to Identify

A shrub or small tree. It grows 8 m tall. It has spines. The leaves are opposite and clasp the stem. The leaves on lower branches are smaller and on higher branches are 4-9 cm long by 2-5 cm wide. They are thick and papery. The flowers have 5 parts. They are white and turn yellow with age. The fruit is a round berry 5 cm long by 4 cm wide. It has many seeds in a fleshy pulp.

Medicinal Uses

The plant is used in medicine.

Wikipedia

Source ↗

Ceriscoides turgida (syn. Gardenia turgida), the mountain gardenia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae, native to the Indian Subcontinent and mainland Southeast Asia. A tree reaching 8 m (26 ft), its unripe fruit can be boiled and eaten as a famine food, but its ripe fruit are poisonous.

Production

Plants flower and fruit November to March in India.

Notes

It is used in medicine.

Names & Synonyms

Bengeri, Bomonia, Bootbangari, Dhauuk, Dudri, Ghurgia, Karhar, Karumba, Kharkar, Khurpendra, Madanghanta, Malangarai, Malankara, Manjuda, Pandhara fendra, Peddabikki, Pendra, Tellakokkita, Thanella, Vellakara, Vellakarae, Yerribikki

Gardenia montana Roxb.Gardenia turgida Roxb.Gardenia turgida var. montana (Roxb.) Hook.f.Randia turgida (Roxb.) Tirveng.

References (11)

Ambasta, S.P. (Ed.), 2000, The Useful Plants of India. CSIR India. p 232 (As Gardenia turgida)
Bull. Mus. Nat. Hist. Nat., Ser. 3, Bot. 35:15. 1978
Dey, A. & Mukhererjee, A., 2015, Living and Survival Amidst Hunger: Wild Edible Botanicals as a Prime Forestt Productivity in the Rural Purulia District, West Bengal, India from Colonial to Present. Research Journal of Foresttry 9(3): 71-86 (As Gardenia turgida)
Dobriyal, M. J. R. & Dobriyal, R., 2014, Non Wood Forestt Produce an Option for Ethnic Food and Nutritional Security in India. Int. J. of Usuf. Mngt. 15(1):17-37 (As Gardenia campanulata)
Fl. ind. 2:557. 1824 (As Gardenia turgida)
Pandey, K. C. & Pande, N., 2016, Ethnobotanical Documentation of Wild Edible Plants used by Gujjar Community of Tarai West Forest Division Ramnagar, Nainital, India, Current World Environment. Vol. 11(3), 808-818
Ramachandran, V.S. and Nair, V.J., 1981, Ethnobotanical studies in Cannanore District, Kerala State (India). J Econ. Tax. Bot. Vol 2 pp 65-72
Reddy, K. N. et al, 2007, Traditional knowledge on wild food plants in Andhra Pradesh. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge. Vol. 6(1): 223-229
Setiya, A. V., et al, 2016, Exploration and documentation of some wild edible plants used by the aboriginals from Gadchiroli District (M.S.) India. International Advanced Research Journal in Science, Engineering and Technology. 3(7)
Singh, H.B., Arora R.K.,1978, Wild edible Plants of India. Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi. p 76 (As Gardenia turgida)
Yadav, D. K., 2011, Study on Biodiversity and Edible Bioresources of Betla National Park, Palamu, Jharkhand (India). The 2011 Las Vegas International Academic Conference.