Alangium salvifolium

(Click image to Enlarge)

Photographs by: Dr. Maulik Gadani

«
»
  • Botanical Name : Alangium salvifolium (L.f.) Wangerin
  • Common Name : Ankol, Ankoli, Sage Leaved Alangium
  • Plant Family : Cornaceae
  • Originally the plant was placed in Cornaceae by Bentham and Hooker but some of the views place it under Alangiaceae which is treated as separate from the family Cornaceae.

  • Plant Form : Tree
  • Occurrence (Special Areas) : Indroda Park, Van Chetana Kendra

About Alangium salvifolium Plant :

  • Habit : Tall, thorny tree.
  • Stem : Erect, cylindrical, branched, solid with ash - coloured, rough and faintly fissured bark.
  • Leaves : Elliptic - oblong, elliptic - lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate.
  • Flowers : Greenish - white, fascicled, axillary.
  • Fruits : Berries 1.3 - 1.6 cm long, ovoid, ellipsoid or nearly globose, glabrous, smooth, violet to deep - purple.
  • Flowering and Fruiting time : Feb - Apr, Apr - June.
  • Significance :
    • The fruit though astringent and acidic, is eaten.
    • The wood is hard, tough and close - grained and is valuable as fuel.