Flacourtia indica

Botanical Name – Flacourtia indica

Common Name – Shruva-vruksha (Sanskrit), Kakai, Kaanker, Bilangada, Katai, Kukai, Kangu, Kandi, Bhanber, Sherawane, Kaanker, Kotian, Milkaiya (Hindi), Tambut (Marathi)

Distribution – Throughout India

Habit

• Large thorny shrub or small deciduous tree
• Slow growing
  
  

Habitat

• Dry thickets, low thorn forest scrub jungles, dry deciduous and mixed forests
  
  

Specific properties

• Very adaptable plant, grows in wide range of geographic range
• Pioneer species
• Drought tolerant
• Preferred for agroforestry
  
  

Ecology

• Birds, mammals feed on fruits and disperse seeds
• Attracts lots of bees and other pollinator insects
• Larval host plant for Rustic, Common Leopard
• Nectar plant for Double-branded Crow, Great Eggfly, Blue Tiger, Dark Blue Tiger, Common Four-ring, Common Crow butterfly
• Leaves are a good cattle fodder
  
  

Uses

• Fruits are edible, used to prepare jams, sauces and jellies
• Fermented fruits are used to make alcoholic beverages
• An important herb in Ayurveda, where infusions of the bark, leaves and root are used medicinally to treat conditions such as fever, diarrhoea and inflammations
• Leaves can be used as sedatives and useful for asthma and gynaecological problems
• Root is used as a remedy for kidney complaints
• A root decoction in combination with the leaf-sap is taken for schistosomiasis, malaria and to relieve body pains
• Barks are used for the treatment of intermittent fever and effective for arthritis
• Infusion of the bark is used as a gargle for hoarseness
• The leaves and roots are used for treatment of snakebite
• Can be planted as tall hedge, windbreak, or boundary screen
• The extract of its fruit has diuretic, hepatoprotective, and antidiabetic properties
• The leaf juice used for coughs, dysentery and diarrhoea

Propagation

• Seeds