''Myrica esculenta'' is a

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

or large shrub native to the hills of northern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, southern

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...

and

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

. Its common names include box myrtle, bayberry and kaphal. Its berries are edible and are consumed locally. It is the state fruit of the northern Indian state of

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

Habitat

Known locally as kaphal or kafal, ''Myrica esculenta'' is found in the hilly regions of northern

and

, especially in the regions of Garhwal and

Kumaon Kumaon or Kumaun may refer to: * Kumaon division, a region in Uttarakhand, India * Kumaon Kingdom, a former country in Uttarakhand, India * Kumaon, Iran, a village in Isfahan Province, Iran * , a ship of the Royal Indian Navy during WWII See also ...

, southern

and western Nepal especially at elevations of . It is also found at elevations below in the midhills of Nepal. It is also found in Ziro, Arunachal Pradesh and some parts of Himachal Pradesh and Meghalaya.

Morphology

''Myrica esculenta'' has a tree of medium height, about . Bark is soft and brittle. Leaves are conjoint, feet long that has leaflets in pairs of 6 to 9 and has a width of . Flowers are of white color and are found in bunches. Fruit is a globose, succulent drupe, with a hard endocarp; diameter ; average mass . Seeds are triangular in shape and are astringent in taste. According to

Ayurveda Ayurveda () is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. The theory and practice of Ayurveda is pseudoscientific. Ayurveda is heavily practiced in India and Nepal, where around 80% of the population rep ...

, it has two varieties based on the color of flower: Shweta (white) and Rakta (red).

Chemical constituents

The bark is yellow and contains the chemical substances

myricetin Myricetin is a member of the flavonoid class of polyphenolic compounds, with antioxidant properties. Common dietary sources include vegetables (including tomatoes), fruits (including oranges), nuts, berries, tea, and red wine. Myricetin is struc ...

myricitrin Myricitrin is a plant compound, the 3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside of myricetin. Occurrences It can be isolated from the root bark of ''Myrica cerifera'' (Bayberry, a small tree native to North America), in '' Myrica esculenta'', in '' Nymphaea lotus ...

and

glycoside In chemistry, a glycoside is a molecule in which a sugar is bound to another functional group via a glycosidic bond. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms. Many plants store chemicals in the form of inactive glycoside ...

s. Leaves of the plant also contain flavone-4'-hydroxy-3',5,5'-trimethoxy-7-O-β-I-D-glucopyranosy)(1→4)-α-L-rhamnopyranoside; flavone-3',4'-dihydroxy-6-methoxy-7-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside; β-sitosterol; β-sitosterol-β-D-glucopyranoside and quercetin.Bamola A, Semwal DK, Semwal S, Rawat U. Flavonoid glycosides from Myrica esculenta leaves. Journal of the Indian Chemical Society. 2009;86(5):535-6.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3636681 Plants used in Ayurveda esculenta Trees of Nepal Flora of West Himalaya Trees of India