Mammea suriga (Buch.- Ham. ex Roxb.) Kosterm. (GUTTIFERAE)
Common names
Kannada: Suragi.
Konkani: Rani-undi.
Malayalam: Suran punna.
Sanksrit: Naga-Kesaram-pushpam.
Tamil: Naga-pu, Nagashop-pu.
Telugu: Surapanna.
Description: Evergreen trees, up to 18 m tall, glabrous, monoecious; bark rough, exfoliating in irregular pieces; sap milky; branchlets obscurely 4-angled. Leaves opposite or ternately verticillate at apieces of branchlets, oblong, up to 22 x 7 cm, obtuse at base, obtuse, retuse or acuminate at apex, dark green, shiny, glabrous; petioles 5-10 mm long, channeled above. Flowers in dense fascicles on nodes of old wood or in axils of fallen leaves, unisexual, often bisexual in cultivation, sweet-scented; bracteoles ca 8. Calyx opening into 2 values, lobes concave, reflexed during anthesis, reddish. There are four deciduous petals that are oblong-obovate and acute, with a white color streaked with red. The numerous stamens (60-100) are yellow. The fruit is a berry, obliquely ovoid, measuring 2.5-3 x 1-1.5 cm, and contains 1-4 seeds, each approximately 2 x 1 cm.
Flowering & Fruiting: March – July.
Distribution: India: In evergreen and deciduous forests up to 600 m. Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Cultivated in Assam, West Bengal, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh. Bangladesh.
Uses: Fruits are delicious and eaten. Wood sometimes used for building purposes, planking and for mats of boats. Seeds yield a viscid gum. Flowers (buds) used for dyeing silk. Cultivated for its handsome foliage and sweet-scented flowers; planted as an avenue tree and in household gardens. Flowers used in Hindu worship and for decorating hair. Flower buds mild stimulant, carminative, astringent and used in dyspepsia.