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Mountain Pomegranate
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Mountain Pomegranate
ative Photo: Prashant Awale
Common name: Mountain Pomegranate, Spiny Randia, False guava, Thorny Bone-apple, Common emetic nut • Hindi: मैनफल Mainphal • Manipuri: ꯆꯤꯡ ꯀꯕꯣꯛꯂꯩ Ching Kaboklei • Marathi: घेला Ghela, Khajkanda • Nepali: मैदाल Maidaal, मैन फल Main Phal, मैन काँडा Main Kaandaa • Tamil: Madkarai • Malayalam: Karacchulli • Telugu: Marrga • Kannada: Kaarekaayi-gida • Oriya: Patova • Sanskrit: Madanah • Mizo: Sazukthei
Botanical name: Catunaregam spinosa    Family: Rubiaceae (Coffee family)
Synonyms: Gardenia spinosa, Randia spinosa, Xeromphis spinosa

Mountain Pomegranate is an armed shrub or small tree. Spines arise from leaf axil and are straight. Branchlets have soft hair on them. Leaves are 4.5-8 x 1.6-3.5 cm obovate, apex obtuse, base cuneate; hairy along nerves and nerve-axils beneath ; petiole 1-2 cm long. Leaves are oppositely arranged on horizontal branches. Flowers solitary or paired at the ends of arrested branchlets; stalks 5 mm long, smooth, often with small intermediate teeth in between. Flowers white, turning pale yellow ; flower-tube 1-1.2 cm long, narrow, petals 5, spreading, 1 cm long. Stamens 5, inserted on corolla tube. Filaments are short, anthers 2-celled. Fruit is 4x3 cm, ovoid, with persistent calyx like a pomegranate; seeds many. Mountain Pomegranate is found in India, Sri Lanka, SE Asia. It is also found in the Himalayas, up till altitudes of 1600 m. Flowering: May.

Identification credit: Prashant Awale Photographed in Maharashtra, Tamilnadu.

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