Scientific name: Averrhoa carambola L.
Family: Oxalidaceae
Synonym: Averrhoa acutangula Stokes
Bengali/Vernacular name: Kamranga.
Tribal name: Chrongci (Chak), Sewra (Khumi), La-hat-thei (Lushai), Sangra-sthei (Rakhaing).
English name: Carambola apple, Chinese gooseberry, Coromandel gooseberry.
Description of the plant: The carambola tree is slow-growing, short-trunked with a much-branched, bushy, broad, rounded crown. Its deciduous leaves, spirally arranged, are alternate, imparipinnate, with 5 to 11 leaflets, ovate-lanceolate. Flowers small, variegated white and purple, in short racemes, chiefly axillary or sometimes springing from the bark. Fruit 8-10 cm long, ovoid to ellipsoid, sharply 5-angled or lobed, grooved at both ends but more towards the apical end, sour or sweet, yellow when ripe.
Plant parts used: Leaf.
Medicinal uses: Leaf powder is used to treat pox and worm.
Leaf paste is used to treat bone fracture.
Decoction of leaves is taken for the treatment of fever.
Distribution: This plant is cultivated in homestead gardens.
Is this plant misidentified? If yes, please tell us….
