Common name: Tanner's Tree
Botanical name: Coriaria nepalensis Family: Coriariaceae (Coriaria family)
Tanner's tree is actually a large hairless shrub, 3-4 m tall, with arching
redish-brown branches. Elliptic pointed leaves are nearly stalkless and
noticeably 3-veined. Red flowers occur in serveral short clusters in leaf
axils. The five petals are first greenish and smaller than the sepals. But
they soon enlarge to become fleshy and purple-red. Prominent stamens and
style protrude out of the flower. Fruit is black, with carpels encircled by
larger persistent purple petals. Fruit is eaten raw as famine food or used
as a beverage. Great caution has to be taken since most parts of the plant,
including the seed, are very toxic. Endemic to the Indo-Pakistan
subcontinent, in the Himalayas from Indus eastward to Bhutan, usually
between 800-2700 m. Flowering: March-April.
| Photographed in Mussoorie. |
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