Duckeye Coralberry
Scientific name
Ardisia solanacea (Poir.) Roxb.
English Name
Duckeye coralberry
Malayalam name
കുഴിമുണ്ടൻ,കാക്കഞാറ
Common name
Duckeye coralberry
Description
- Habit : Shrub
- Habitat : tropical wet evergreen and semi-evergreen forests of India
- Leaves : leathery, glossy, and smooth
- Flowers : elongated green leaves and distinct, five-pointed pinkish-purple flowers that hang down in small clusters.
- Fruits : pink to glossy black when completely ripe.
Uses
Pain, inflammation, toothache,diarrhea
Parts used
Roots,bark,leaves,fruits
How to use
- Pain & Inflammation : Leaf extracts have documented analgesic (pain-relieving) and anti-inflammatory properties, often used to target aches in the neck and chest.
- Toothache Relief : As practiced by the Kurichiya tribe of Kerala, the bark is ground with spices like black pepper to form a localized pain-relieving tooth pack
- Digestive Issues : Root juice or powdered root is consumed to treat severe diarrhea and chronic indigestion
Conservation
Propagation & Cultivation
It is propagated mainly using stem cuttings.For that, snip a healthy vegetative shoot about 10 to 15 cm long with two or three nodes. Trim off the lowest leaves and make a clean angled cut right below the bottom node. Dip this raw tip into a standard rooting hormone to speed up growth. Plant the stem into a breathable mix of sand or peat moss. Cover the container with clear plastic wrap to lock in high humidity. New roots will form within 3 to 5 weeks.