Many-Flowered Litsea • Hindi: Meda, Gwa, Singraf, Katmarra, Jangli-rai-am Botanical name: Litsea monopetala

Common name: Many-Flowered Litsea • Hindi: Meda, Gwa, Singraf, Katmarra, Jangli-rai-am

Botanical name: Litsea monopetala Family: Lauraceae (Laurel family)

ID Coursity:- Ashutosh Sharma 

Location -Himachal Pradesh, Chamba

DOC:-03/2022

Synonyms: Litsea polyantha, Tetranthera monopetala, Tetranthera alnoides

Many-Flowered Litsea is a small tree up to 18 m tall, with a straight to crooked trunk, up to 60 cm in diameter. Bark is longitudinally fissured, dark greyish, inner bark brown mottled. Alternately arranged elliptic leaves, 4.5-17 cm x 2.5-10 cm, are pointed or blunt, smooth above, sparsely hairy below. The midrib is sunken above, with 6-13 pairs of secondary veins which are sunken above. Leaf stalk is about 1-2.5 cm long. Yellow flowers are borne in stalked umbellets in short racemes, with 6 tepals and 9-12 stamens. Fruit is oblong to ellipsoid, 0.7-1.2 cm long, seated on a small flat perianth cup. Many-Flowered Litsea is found in the Himalayas, from E Pakistan, Kumaun to NE India, Burma, SW China, and SE Asia, at altitudes below below 1500 m. It is also found in South India. Flowering: March-May.

Medicinal

The leaves are used as a topical medicine for the treatment of arthritis

The oil from the seed is used medicinally in Indian Flora 

Other Uses

The seed contains around 30% oil which is used for industrial purposes

An extract of the leaves is used as an ingredient in commercial cosmetic preparations as a skin conditioner

The wood is used for furniture.It is used as medang, e.g. for planks and tool handles

From @ Gajendra Varma