''Memecylon umbellatum'', commonly known as ironwood, anjani (Marathi) or alli (Telugu), is a small tree found in India, the Andaman islands and the coastal region of the
Deccan.
It is also found in Sri Lanka, where it is called ''blue mist'', ''kora-kaha'' (
Sinhala language
Sinhala ( ; Sinhala: , , ), sometimes called Sinhalese ( ), is an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken by the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka, who make up the largest ethnic group on the island, numbering about 16 million. It is also the first ...
) and ''kurrikaya'' (
Tamil language
Tamil (, , , also written as ''Tamizhil'' according to linguistic pronunciation) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. It is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world,. "Tamil is one of ...
). The leaves contain a yellow
dye
Juan de Guillebon, better known by his stage name DyE, is a French musician. He is known for the music video of the single "Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical ele ...
, a
glucoside
A glucoside is a glycoside that is chemically derived from glucose. Glucosides are common in plants, but rare in animals. Glucose is produced when a glucoside is hydrolysed by purely chemical means, or decomposed by fermentation or enzymes.
Th ...
, which is used for dyeing the robes of
Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
monks and for colouring reed mats (Dumbara mats). Medicinally, the leaves are said to have anti-
diarrhoea
Diarrhea (American English), also spelled diarrhoea or diarrhœa (British English), is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements in a day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration d ...
l properties.
[S. R. Kottegoda, Flowers of Sri Lanka, 1994; Colombo: Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka. ] Historically, this plant was burnt as fuel in the production of
Wootz steel.
Names
*Botanical Name : Memecylon umbellatum
*English : Ironwood
*Sinhala : කොරකහ (Korakaha)
*Sanskrit : अंजन (Anjan)
*Hindi : अंजन (Anjan)
*Bengali : অঞ্জন (Anjan)
*Marathi : अंजनी (Anjani)
*Konkani : काळ्यो आंक्र्यो (Kalleo ankrio)
*Kannada : ಒಳ್ಳಯ ಕುಡಿ (Ollayakudi)
*Telugu : అల్లి (Alli)
*Tamil : காயா (Kaya)
*Malayalam : കാഞ്ഞാവ് (Kaannaav), കായാമ്പൂ (Kaayaamboo), കാശാവ് (Kashavu)
Description
It is a large shrub or small tree. Its bark and branches are very hard. That is why it is called Ironwood (or possibly because of its important historical role in the production of
Wootz steel). Leaves are
simple
Simple or SIMPLE may refer to:
*Simplicity, the state or quality of being simple
Arts and entertainment
* ''Simple'' (album), by Andy Yorke, 2008, and its title track
* "Simple" (Florida Georgia Line song), 2018
* "Simple", a song by John ...
,
opposite
In lexical semantics, opposites are words lying in an inherently incompatible binary relationship. For example, something that is ''even'' entails that it is not ''odd''. It is referred to as a 'binary' relationship because there are two members i ...
type. Leaves contain glucose. Flowers are blue coloured and produced in cymose
umbel
UMBEL (Upper Mapping and Binding Exchange Layer) is a logically organized knowledge graph of 34,000 concepts and entity types that can be used in information science for relating information from disparate sources to one another. It was retired ...
s. The fruit is round berry bluish-black in colour. Flowering time is February to March.
References
umbellatum
Plants described in 1768
Taxa named by Nicolaas Laurens Burman
{{Melastomataceae-stub