Sapindus emarginatus Vahl.
| Kannada Name : | Koogate kaayi, Arutaala |
| Common Name : | Notched-leaf soapnut |
| Family Name : | Sapindaceae |
| Scientific Name : | Sapindus emarginatus |
| Species Type : | Endemic |
| Phenology : | Deciduous |
| Conservation Status : | Not known |
| Flowering Period : | November - March |
| Fruiting Period : | November - March |
| Origin : | Western Ghats, Indian subcontinent |
Uses
The fruits possess several medicinal properties and are widely used, for example in the treatment of asthma, colic and dysentery, and during childbirth.
Description
Evergreen trees, to 18 m high, bark dark-brown, rough; branchlets tomentose. Leaves paripinnate, alternate; leaflets 2-3 pairs, oblong-obovate, oblanceolate or oblong, glabrescent above, softly tomentose beneath, base cuneate or obtuse, apex obtuse, round and emarginate, margin entire. Inflorescence a terminal or axillary cyme. Flowers polygamous, greenish-white. Fruit a drupe of 3 indehiscent cocci, combined about half way up and then separating with saponaceous fibrous pericarp; smooth and slightly pubescent when young, later glabrous and wrinkled; seeds black, globose, smooth.
