Mallotus philippensis

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Photographs by: Dr. Maulik Gadani

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  • Botanical Name : Mallotus philippensis (Lam.) Mull. Arg.
  • Synonyms : Croton philippensis Lam.
  • Common Name : Kamala Tree, Dyer's Rottlera, Monkey Face Tree, Orange Kamala, Red Kamala, Kanku, Kapila
  • Plant Family : Euphorbiaceae
  • Plant Form : Tree
  • Occurrence (Special Areas) : Indroda Park

About Mallotus philippensis Plant :

  • Habit : An evergreen, deciduous trees.
  • Stem : An irregular trunk and grey bark with many rusty-pubescent branches.
  • Leaves : Ovate, ovate-elliptic, ovate-lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate, acute or acuminate at apex, rarely notched, rounded or truncate at base, entire or serrate along the margins, glabrescent above, pubescent with minute red glands beneath, pale green, subcoriaceous, petiolate, petioles terete, rusty pubescent, curved at the top.
  • Flowers :
    • Small, greenish-yellow, male sessile or pedicelled, in erect, axillary or terminal, simple or branched spikes or racemes.
    • Females sessile in axillary or terminal simple spikes rarely solitary.
  • Fruit :
    • Capsules subglobose, 3-lobed, glandular-hairy, deep-red.
    • Seeds black, smooth, subglobose.
  • Flowering and Fruiting Time : October - November
  • Significance : The red powder Kamala (Kanku) is used as an vermifuge for round and ring worms.