Plant of the week – Coscinium fenestratum (Gaertn.) Colebr.

Coscinium fenestratum (common name: Maramanjal) is a woody climber / liana. Stems are yellow with radiating rays when cut. Leaves with leathery, shiny green above and with white soft hairs beneath. The plant is native to Sri Lanka and Western Ghats in India and occurs in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamilnadu. The species is traded from southern region as Daruharidra, which actually is Berberis species from the Himalayan states. It is a highly demanded medicinal plant used in various Indian medicinal systems such as Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha systems. The plant is a victim of uncontrolled and unscientific collection of plant materials that resulted in the declination of natural distribution of the species. It is categorised as rare and critically endangered (CR) (IUCN Redlist 2024.1). Green Ahalia could successfully growing this rare plant in our RET garden “Sanketham” in the campus.

For more information: greenahalia@ahhkv.org