- Family : MELASTOMATACEAE
(MELASTOMA FAMILY)
- Family (as per The Plant List) : Melastomataceae
- Species : Memecylon edule
- Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Unresolved
- Common name : Iron-wood tree
- Vernacular name : Anjan, Anjuni, Lokhandi, Aalimara (Kan.); Alli (Tel.)
- Key identification features : Small evergreen trees. Leaves are ovate or ovate-elliptic, obtuse or bluntly acuminate at apex. Lateral nerves are indistinct. Flowers are numerous, pedicellate, in umbellate cymes, from the axils of fallen leaves on the old wood. Petals are blue. Berry is globose, black-purple when ripe and edible.
- Habit : Tree
- Flower, Fruit : April-July
- Comments : Occasional on hills in dry evergreen forests above 1000 m. Fruits are edible, staining tongue violet. Wood is very hard and used in agricultural implements.
- Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
- Distribution Locality : Chittoor district, Visakhapatnam district, East Godavari district, Kurnool district, Kadapa district (Andhra Pradesh State); Shevaroy Hills (Salem district), Dharmapuri district, Pacchamalai Hills (Tiruchirapalli district) (Tamil Nadu State)
- World Distribution : India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Malesia
- Literature : Pullaiah et al., 2007 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 3; Matthew, K.M., The Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983.
- Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Arun Singh R., Deepak Kumar, Raja K Swamy and Navendu Page (2016). Digital Flora of Eastern Ghats. http://easternghats.ces.iisc.ernet.in/plants.php?name=Memecylon edule. Downloaded on 4 July 2024.
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