Bark
Grey-brown, rough, with prominent lenticels
Celastrus paniculatus
Syn. Catha paniculata
IUCN Red List
Not Evaluated
(NE)
Local name
- Black oil plant (English)
- Jyotishmati (Sanskrit)
- Malkangni (Hindi)
Climber type
Evergreen
Deciduous
Family: Celastraceae
Indicated uses
Medicinal
Edible
Ornamental
Avenue
Other
Flowering & fruiting
Flowering
Fruiting
Key characters
Leaves
Simple, alternate, elliptic-ovate with finely toothed margin
Flower
Small, greenish-yellow, in drooping terminal panicles
Fruit / Seeds
Globose yellow 3-valved capsule opening to show seeds with scarlet aril
Did you know?
Called the ‘black oil plant’ because destructive distillation of the seeds gives a black oil (oleum nigrum). The 3 - 6 seeds per fruit sit in a scarlet-orange aril that stains yellowish-orange, and the seed fatty oil is about 45% of dry seed weight, with sesquiterpene alkaloids such as celapanin.
Distribution
India (hilly forests, including Gujarat’s Dangs and Panchmahal forests), Sri Lanka, SE Asia and Australasia