Mimusops elengi

Systematic Classification:

Division   : Angiospermae
Class      : Dicotyledons
Order      : Ericales
Family     : Sapotaceae
Genus      : Mimusops
Species    : elengi

Common Name:

Ilanni, Elanchi, Elenji, Bakulam

General Information:

Evergreen trees, to 20 m high, bark dark grey, cracked or fissured longitudinally, scaly, rough; lenticels vertical; blaze pink with red streaks; exudation white; young branches brown pubescent. Leaves simple, alternate, spiral, stipulate; stipules lanceolate, caducous; petiole 15-40 mm long, slender, grooved above, 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; lateral nerves many, slightly raised beneath, parallel, slender, looped near the margin forming intramarginal nerves; intercostae reticulate.

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 minutely fimbricate. Fruit a berry, yellow, ovoid, 2.5 cm long, 1.5 cm across, fleshy, epicarp thin; seeds usually 1, oblong-ellipsoid, laterally compressed.

Economic Importance:

• It is used in the treatment and maintenance of oral hygiene. Rinsing mouth with water solution made with bakul helps in strengthening the teeth. It also prevents bad breath and helps keep the gums healthy.