Statue of Unity – Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat Rain Forest Ektanagar

Myristica malabarica

Syn. Palala malabarica

IUCN Red List Vulnerable (VU)

Local name

  • Malabar Nutmeg (English)
  • Van-jayphal (Hindi)
  • Bandhukapushpa (Sanskrit)

Tree type

Evergreen Deciduous
Family: Myristicaceae
25m

Indicated uses

Medicinal Edible Ornamental Avenue Other

Flowering & fruiting

Flowering Fruiting

Key characters

Myristica malabarica bark

Bark

Bark is greenish-black, smooth; blaze reddish. Branches are horizontal, branchlets round, hairless. Red sap oozes from cut end of bark.

Myristica malabarica leaves

Leaves

Alternately arranged leaves, 9.5–22 × 3.7–10 cm, are elliptic or elliptic-oblong, tip pointed, base narrow or flat, margin entire, glossy above, hairless and glaucous beneath, leathery.

Myristica malabarica flower

Flower

Flowers are unisexual, urn-shaped, white. Male flowers are numerous, smaller than female flowers, borne in cymes in leaf axils. Female flowers are borne in 5–6 flowered umbels.

Myristica malabarica fruit / seeds

Fruit / Seeds

Capsule is 5–7.5 × 1.8–3.5 cm, oblong, velvety, with one oblong seed.

Myristica malabarica

Did you know?

It is a key tree species of the ancient Myristica swamps, a rare, relict forest ecosystem of the Western Ghats.

Distribution

World map showing distribution

South West India, Bangladesh to Myanmar.