Myristica dactyloides Gaertner (MYRISTICACEAE)
Common names
Kannada: Kaadu jayikai.
Malayalam: Pattha pam.
Tamil: Kathu jathikai.
Description: Evergreen trees, up to 30 m tall; bark blackish green. Leaves alternate, elliptic to oblong-lanceolate, 16-27 x 5-10 cm, acute or rounded at base, blunty acute at apex, coriaceous, glaucous beneath; petioles 2-4 cm long; nerves 12-17 pairs. Flowers unisexual, in short axillay umbel, yellow, rusty tomentose; perianth lobes 3, connate into obovoid, short ureceolate tube. Male flowers: stamens 12, united; connective prolonged. Female flowers: ovary ovoid, unilocular; style short. The fruit is a dehiscing drupe, occurring in groups of 1-3, and is ovoid, measuring 5-7 x 3-4 cm. The pericarp is thick and powdery brown. There is a single seed, ovoid, reaching up to 3 x 2 cm, with a fleshy aril that is laciniate almost to the base, displaying an orange-red color.
Flowering : November – February.
Fruiting : April – September.
Distribution: India: South W. India. Frequent in evergreen forests of Western Ghats from 250 to 1300 m. Sri Lanka.
Uses: Wood reddish grey, moderately hard and heavy, suitable for tea boxes, matchboxes and splints. In Ayurveda it is used as a substitute for Myristica fragransHoutt.