Cordia Dichotoma
Family : Boraginaceae
Common Name : Indian cheerry
English Name : Clammy cherry
Hindi Name : Lenida, Lasora
Telugu Name : Bankanakkera
Bengali Name : Bahubara
Tree Characteristics :
Indian cherry is a small to moderate-sized deciduous tree with a short bole and spreading crown. The stem bark is greyish brown, smooth or longitudinally wrinkled. Flowers are short-stalked, bisexual and white in colour, appear in loose corymbose cymes. The flowers open only at night. The fruit is a yellow or pinkish-yellow shining globose or ovoid drupe seated in a saucer-like enlarged calyx. It turns black on ripening and the pulp gets viscid
Nursery Practice :
Seed - sow direct into containers, beds or trays. Germination starts in about 3 - 4 weeks and is complete in 6 weeks. The germination process can be sped up if the seed is first scarified by lightly abrading the seed coat to allow easier ingress of water. Seedlings should be potted up as soon as the first pair of true leaves have formed. Seeds can store for at least a year in airtight containers. Raising plants from stumps has been carried out successfully. The stumps should be 8 - 13 mm thick at the root collar, with about 4 cm stem and 20 - 25 cm root. Such plants should be raised in beds for 12 - 15 months before stumping. Shading should be for only 1 week after seedlings have been pricked out, otherwise seedlings should have full light.
Economic Uses :
Ø The seeds are anti-inflammatory.
Ø The powdered seeds are applied to skin eruptions and gonorrhea.
They are considered a good remedy for ringworm; they are powdered, mixed with oil and applied topically.
