Family:Sapindaceae

Synonym:Euphoria longana Lam.

Bengali/Vernacular name:Ashphal, Kathlichu.

Tribal name: Ui mia (Murang).

English name:Longan, Dargon’s eye, Eye ball tree.

Description of the plant: A medium-sized to large tree, up to 40 m tall. Leaves pinnate, 7.5-45 cm long; leaflets 4-8, opposite or sub-alternate, 5-17 cm long, oblong or oblong-elliptic, obtusely acuminate, entire. Racemes simple or branched, shortly pubescent; flowers very small; calyx cup-shaped, 4-5-fid. Fruits pendulous, forming clusters rather like grapes, broadly ellipsoid to globular, smooth to warty, containing a single large seed surrounded by a thin layer of white juicy pulp.

Plant parts used:Leaf, fruit, seed.

Herbal uses:Paste prepared from the leaves of the plant is applied to treat snake bite.

The seeds of the plant are administered to counteract heavy sweating.

A decoction prepared from the dried flesh of the fruit is taken as a tonic for the treatment of insomnia, and neurasthenic neurosis.

A paste made with the leaves of the plant is applied to the forehead to treat headache.

A powder made with the dried fruits of the plant and mixed with honey and water, it is taken twice a day (10 ml amount each time) until the stomachache is cured.

Distribution:The species rarely occurs in the evergreen rain forests of Chittagong district, and the Chittagong Hill Tracts. It is also found in scattered natural condition in other parts of the country as well as under cultivated condition.

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