Family: Lecythidaceae

Synonym:Barringtonia coccinea (Lour.) Kostel.,Eugenia acutangula L. 

Bengali/Vernacular name: Hijal, Kumia.

Tribal name: Key-bawn (Rakhaing).

English name: Indian oak, Wild almond.

Description of the plant: A small to medium-sized evergreen tree, crown spreading. Leaves simple, alternate, usually crowded at the end of branchlets, petiole short, apex acute to round, margin minutely serrate. Flowers dark scarlet, numerous, axillary and pendulous racemes, 10-45 cm long. Fruit a fibrous berry, crowned by persistent calyx, oblong, 4-angled throughout.

Plant parts used: Bark, fruit, seed, root.

Herbal uses:Powdered seeds kernels mixed with butter and sago are taken for the treatment of diarrhoea.

Decoction of bark isused as mouthwash in gum problems.

Seeds rubbed with water are applied to the chest to relieve pain, to the abdomen to relieve colic and flatulence.

The fruitsof the plant are used to treat cough, andcold.

A paste made with the bark of the plant is applied to treat wounds, ulcers, sores, and itches.  

Decoction prepared from the roots of the plant is used to treat epilepsy.

A paste prepared from the seeds of the plant is applied to the forehead for the treatment of headache.

A decoction made with the bark of the plant is advised to take twice a day (100 ml amount each time) for seven days ot treat menorrhagia.

The scraped bark is squeezed with coconut meat and the juice is drunk daily for treating pneumonia, and asthma.

Seeds of the plant are used for the treatment of gonorrhoea.

The plant is used for the treatment of arthralgia, dysmenorrhea, chest pain, and inflammation,

Distribution: The species occurs in the fresh water swamp forests of Sylhet (“Haor”). Also occur along the canals and roadside ditches throughout the country.

Is this plant misidentified? If yes, please tell us….

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