Plant Name        Grewia abutilifolia          

                Common name:         Mallow-Leaved Crossberry       

                Marathi:                    kirmith , Dhaman          

                Hindi:                         Dhamin, Dhaaman            

                English:                     Mallow-Leaved Crossberry       

                Jawhar:               

                                               

                               

Identification guide

General

Grewia abutilifolia is a shrub or a tree growing from 1 - 5 metres tall.

The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a source of fibre.

Leaves

Leaves alternate; petiole 1-2 cm long, stellate-pubescent; blade broadly ovate, 2.5-12 cm × 2-11 cm, 3-veined from the base, hairy on both sides, base cordate, margin serrate or doubly serrate, apex acute, obtuse or obtusely acuminate and often shallowly lobed.

Flowers

Inflorescence an axillary, erect cyme, 1-2 cm long, peduncle 1-5 mm long; flower buds ovoid to ellipsoid, 4-6 mm × 3 mm, sepals 5, oblong, petals 5, oblong, 2-3 mm × 1 mm, ciliate in lower half, stamens glabrous, ovary ovoid, c. 1.5 mm long, hairy.

Fruits

Fruit a globose, 2-4-lobed, glabrescent capsule.

                               

Habit / Habitat

Large shrub

Scrub, slopes on grassland in China. Open, dry, mixed deciduous forest at elevations from 100 - 1,000 meters in Thailand.

Moist deciduous forests and forest plantations.

                               

Occurrence

  1. Asia - China, India, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia.

                               

Edible parts

Used by tribal community in Jawhar :    Fruits, Bark and Roots

                               

Method of consumption

Jawhar tribal:    Direct consumption of fruits

 

Medicinal use  

It is extensively cultivated for its sweet and sour acidic fruit, which are sold in the market during summer months under the name falsa. The sherbet or squash is prepared from the fruit pulp by mixing it with sugar and used as an astringent, stomachic and cooling agent.

The root is used by Santhal tribals for rheumatism. The stem bark is said to be used in refining sugar, for making ropes and its infusion is used as a demulcent. The leaves are used as an application to pustular eruptions. The buds are also prescribed by some physicians.

               

                               

Other uses

A good fibre, used for making rope, is obtained from the bark   

                               

Classification

Kingdom:            Plantae

Division:              Sermatophyta

Sub-division:      Angiospermae

Class:                    Dioctyledonae

Sub-Class:           Polypetalae

Series:                  Thalamiflorae

Order:                   Malvales

Family:                  Tiliaceae

Genus:                   Grewia

Species:               abutilifolia

 

References

http://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Grewia+abutilifolia

http://uses.plantnet-project.org/en/Grewia_abutilifolia_(PROSEA)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grewia_asiatica

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