Archidendron monadelphum (Roxb.) Nielsen (MIMOSACEAE)
Common names
Kannada: Kadu kondemara.
Malayalam: Mutha kolappan.
Tamil: Kal pakku.
Description: Small trees, 10-15 m tall with thin, smooth bark. Leaves bipinnate with a gland on the petiole and one each at base of pinnae and leaflets; rachis 10-15 cm long; petiole 3-4 cm long; pinnae 1-2 pairs; leaflets up to 4 pairs, ovate or elliptic-oblong, 7.5-15 x 2.5-4 cm, rounded at base, acute to acuminate at apex, subcoriaceous, glabrous above, pubescent at first beneath; petiolules ca 0.3 cm long. Flowers in few-flowered heads which are often panicled, white, subsessile. Calyx 5-lobed, campanulate, densely brown-silky. Corolla 2-3 times as long as calyx, lobes 5, lanceolate, silky outside, pale-yellowish or cream -coloured. Stamens many, monadelphous, exserted. Ovary many ovuled; style filiform; stigma minute. The fruit is a dehiscing pod, coiled in shape, measuring around 8 x 1.5 cm, with a brown exterior and an orange-red interior. It contains 5-8 seeds that are black and lack an aril (exarillate).
Flowering & Fruiting: January – July.
Distribution: India: South W. India, Eastern Himalayas. Frequent in semi-evergreen and moist deciduous forests of Western Ghats, up to 1000 m.
Sri Lanka, Malaya, Philippines.
Uses: Decoction of leaves used in leprosy and for promoting growth of hairs; seeds used in diabetes.