Plant Name        Ixora brachiata

                Common name:     Gorbale             

                Marathi:                 Gorbale             

                Hindi:  

                English:               

                Jawhar:               

Identification guide

Stems

Bark brownish, scaly when mature; blaze pinkish.

Leaves

Leaves simple, opposite, decussate; stipule broadly ovate, interpetiolar, to 0.5 cm long, glabrous; petiole 0.4-1.2 cm long, planoconvex in cross section, glabrous; lamina 8-18 x 3.4-6.8 cm, elliptic-oblong to oblanceolate, apex obtuse to subacute, base attenuate to cuneate or acute, margin entire or slightly undulate, coriaceous, glabrous; midrib flat above; secondary nerves ca. 12 pairs; tertiary broadly reticulate.

Flowers               

Inflorescence panicled cyme, terminal; flowers small, sessile, white, fragrant.

Fruits   

Berry, globose, 0.6 cm long, reddish when ripe; seeds 2.

Habit / Habitat

Small trees, up to 7 m tall.           

Occurrence        

State - Kerala, District/s: Palakkad, Kottayam, Kasaragode, Kollam, Idukki, Pathanamthitta, Malappuram, Kannur, Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, Wayanad

Maharashtra: Ahemdnagar, Kolhapur, Nasik, Pune, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Satara, Sindhudurg, Thane Karnataka: Chikmagalur, Coorg, N. Kanara, Shimoga, S. Kanara Kerala: Idukki, Kannur, Kasargod, Kollam, Kottayam, Malapuram, Palakkad, Pathanamthitta, Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur Tamil Nadu: Coimbatore, Kanniyakumari, Nilgiri, Tirunelveli"       

Edible parts

Used by tribal community in Jawhar:     Leaves

Nutritional and medicinal information

 Ixora brachiata contains very high concentration of

phenolics (615 mg/100 g). The extract showed reducing property. The Ixora

brachiata Roxb. bark powder found to contain 71.15 mg/100 g of potein.

Other uses

 Fruits edible. The wood is hard and used as tool handles.            

Classification

Kingdom:            Plantae

Division:              Spermatophyta

Sub-division:        Angiospermae

Class:                    Monocotyledonae

Sub-Class:           Gamopetalae

Series:                 Inferae

Order:                   Rubiales

Family:                  Rubiaceae

Genus:                Ixora

 Species:              brachiate

References

http://indiabiodiversity.org/species/show/13804

file:///C:/Users/GUEST.MUMBAI/Downloads/962753%20(1).pdf

http://www.pilikula.com/botanical_list/botanical_name_i/ixora_brachiata.html

http://www.eol.org/pages/1102401/overview