Plant of the week – Hydnocarpus pentandrus (Buch.-Ham.) Oken

Hydnocarpus pentandrus (Buch.-Ham.) Oken [Marotti or Maravetti in Mal.] is a dioecious deciduous tree belonging to the family Achariaceae. This tree grows up to 20 meters tall and has a straight trunk with rough, greyish bark. Its branchlets are arching or drooping with simple alternate leaves which are oblong with a glossy texture. Flowers are unisexual, greenish yellow in solitary or in small axillary fascicles. Fruit a berry 5-7 cm across, globose, thick, brown, with numerous seeds. The species is endemic in distribution restricting their habitat in the deciduous forest tracts of Western Ghats. The tree is valued for the Maroti oil used medicinally under It falls under Vulnerable (VU) category as per IUCN Red List 2024.2. Green Ahalia has this threatened plant in our RET garden – Sanketham.

For more details: greenahalia@ahhkv.org