Scolopia crenata

(Wight & Arn.) Clos

Potato plum of Mysore

SalicaceaeFruit

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What to Eat

Edible parts: Fruit

The ripe fruit are eaten.

Where to Find It

A tropical plant. It grows in forests up to 1,800 m above sea level in India. It Nepal it grows up to 800 m above sea level.

Andaman Islands, Asia, China, Himalayas, India*, Malaysia, Nepal, SE Asia, Sri Lanka,

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

An evergreen tree. It grows up to 18 m tall. The tree and branches can have thorns. The leaves are simple and alternate. The leaf blade is 6-12 cm long by 2-5 cm wide. It is narrowly oval to sword shaped and tapers to the tip. The flowers are in groups in the axils of leaves. They are white and there are many stamens. The fruit are round berries 2 cm across. There are 2-6 seeds.

Medicinal Uses

The leaves are used for treating musco-skeletal pain. The bark has been shown to have antimicrobial and antioxidant activity.

Other Uses

The reddish brown wood is hard, close and even grained.

Wikipedia

Source ↗

Scolopia crenata, known commonly as potato plum of Mysore, is a subcanopy tree found in tropical evergreen to semi-evergreen forests of Indo-Malaysia and the Western Ghats, up to 1800 m.

Production

In south India it flowers and fruits October to April.

Other Information

It is cultivated.

Notes

There are 37-40 Scolopia species. Also put in the Flacourtiaceae family.

Names & Synonyms

Adikejaple, Charalu, Cheruchaliru, Dodd-dajaapaalahaple, Heccaralu, Hitterlu, Japle, Kodalimara, Kodalli, Kokkari, Malekakkade, Purushahesari, Sarel, Sarelmarom

Flacourtia crenata Wall.Flacourtia sapida Wall.Phoberos crenatus Wight & Arn.Scolopia wightiana Closand others

References (9)

Ambasta S.P. (Ed.), 2000, The Useful Plants of India. CSIR India. p 561
Dobriyal, M. J. R. & Dobriyal, R., 2014, Non Wood Forest Produce an Option for Ethnic Food and Nutritional Security in India. Int. J. of Usuf. Mngt. 15(1):17-37
Fern, K., 2012, Tropical Species Database http://theferns.info/tropical/
Harisha, R. P. & Padmavathy, S., 2013, Knowledge and Use of Wild Edible Plants in Two Communities in Malai Madeshwara Hills, Southern India. International Journal of Botany 9(2): 64-72.
Narayanan, M. K., R., et al, 2011, Ethnobotanically important trees and their uses by Kattunaikka tribe in Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, Kerala, India. Journal of Medicinal Plants research. 5(4): 704-612
Pradhan, R., et al, 2020, Potential Wild Edible Plants and its Significance in Livelihood of Indigenous People of Male Mahadeshwara Hills, Karnataka. Economic Affairs Vol. 64, No. 4 pp. 01-14
Ramachandran, V.S., 1987, Further Notes on the Ethnobotany of Cannanore District, Kerala. J. Econ. Tax. Bot. Vol. 11 No. 1 pp 47-
Ramachandran, V. S., 2007, Wild edible plants of the Anamalais, Coimbatore district, western Ghats, Tamil Nadu. Indian Journal or Traditional Knowledge. 6(1) pp 173-176
Schatz, G.E., 2001, Generic Tree Flora of Madagascar. Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden. p 357 (Genus)