Digital Garden

Mimusops elengi 

Maulsari 

Scientific name- Mimusops elengi L. 

Common name-Maulsari 

Family-Sapotaceae 

Habit type-Tree 

Distribution: The plant is native to India, Myanmar, Indo-China and Malaysia 

Leaves 

simple, alternate, spiral, stipulate; stipules lanceolate, caducous; petiole 15-40 mm long, slender, pubescent; lamina 4-12 x 3.5-7.5 cm; elliptic or elliptic-oblong, base round or obtuse, apex obtuse to acuminate, margin entire, glabrous, coriaceous; 

Stem 

Evergreen trees, upto 20 m high, bark is dark grey, cracked or fissured longitudinally, scaly, rough; lenticels vertical; blaze pink with red streaks; exudation white; young branches brown pubescent. 

Inflorescence: Axillary or in solitary 

Flowers 

Bisexual, white, fragrant, 1-3 in axillary fascicles, pedicel 1 cm long; calyx lobes 8 in 2 series of 4 each, thick, outer lanceolate, valvate, pubescent; petals 9 mm long, lobes with 2 dorsal appendages, corolla 1 cm across; lobes 24, 3 series of 8 each, with hairs on back and margins, acuminate; stamens 8, alternating with pilose staminodes; filaments 1 mm, anthers oblong, cordate, 3 mm, connectives apiculate; staminodes lanceolate, acuminate, fimbricate, pilose; ovary 0.1-0.15 cm long, void, hirsute without, 6-8-celled; 1 ovule in each cell; style- columnar, 5 mm; stigma is minutely fimbricate. 

Fruit 

Berry, yellow, ovoid, 2.5 cm long, 1.5 cm across, fleshy, epicarp thin; seeds usually 1, oblong-ellipsoid, laterally compressed. 

FACTS & MEDICINAL USES 

● Charak, one of the ancient healers, suggested using parts of the plant as an anthelmintic (destroy worms). 

● Sushruta recommended using the leaves as a potent snake bite remedy. According to the book, “Herbs Cultivation and Medicinal Uses,” the fruit and flowers together make a topical concoction for wounds and ulcers. 

● The same book states dried flowers promote nasal discharge. Furthermore, dried flowers, when sniffed, alleviate headaches, reduce stress and lowers blood pressure. 

● Flowers are also known to cure biliousness, aid liver health, and clears asthma. Some Ayurvedic practitioners state that flower extracts treat heart diseases, leucorrhea, menorrhagia and has antitoxic agents. 

● Ripe fruit, when pounded and added to water, is given to women to hasten childbirth. 

● When the bruised seeds are pulverized to a powder, the mix provides relief from constipation. 

● When chewed, the unripe fruits aid in dental health, specifically loose teeth. Gargling a mix of root bark, pepper, ghee and honey also strengthens teeth and drinking a bark infusion made with milk. 

● Eating ripe fruit combats diarrhea and relieves headache. Its sweet and sour fruit is also known as an aphrodisiac, diuretic, bowel astringent, and remedy for gonorrhea.