FoI
Warty Bridelia
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Warty Bridelia
P Native Photo: Nishant Chauhan
Common name: Warty Bridelia • Garhwali: Ghaola • Hindi: Ghiyani • Nepali: Rukh gayo, Thulo gayo • Urdu: Ghiyani
Botanical name: Bridelia verrucosa    Family: Phyllanthaceae (Amla family)

Warty Bridelia is a large shrub or small tree, about 3 m tall. Twigs hairless, warty on account of the prominent lenticels. Leaf-stalks are 5 mm long. Leaf-blade elliptic-obovate or broadly elliptic, 8-12 x 5-7.5 cm, blunt, rounded or notched at the tip, wedge-shaped, rounded or sometimes slightly heart-shaped at the base, entire, papery to thinly leathery, lateral nerves 8-15 pairs, scarcely prominent above, prominent beneath, parallel, reaching the margin; hairless above, sparingly velvet-hairy beneath. Flowers are arranged only in fascicles, which are commonly unisexual, although sometimes bisexual. Flowers are shortly stalked or stalkless. Male flowers have stalks 1 mm long, hairless; sepals oblong-lanceshaped, 2 mm long, pointed, hairless; petals spoon-shaped to fan-shaped, 1 mm long. Female flowers are stalkless; sepals triangular-ovate, 1.5 mm long, petals elliptic-oblong, 1 mm long; outer disc roundly pentagonal, inner disc completely enveloping the ovary, only the styles protruding. Fruits are ovoid, 5-6 mm long, 4 mm diameter when dried, black. Warty Bridelia is found in the Himalayas, from Kashmir to NE India, at altitudes of 700-1200 m. Flowering: September.
Medicinal uses: Warty Bridelia is widely used in traditional medicine. It is valued for its therapeutic abilities in the treatment of fever, skin disorders, diarrhea, headache relief, and, toothache treatment. Its various therapeutic uses highlight its importance in traditional medical practices.

Identification credit: Nishant Chauhan Photographed in Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh.

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