Skip to main content

Myrobalan (Phyllanthus emblica)

Kemloko or myrobalan (Phyllanthus emblica) is a plant species in the Phyllanthaceae, a small to medium sized tree, 1-8 meters high, branches not bare or finely pubescent, 10-20 cm long, growing in lowlands which are dry and fire resistant.

The leaves are simple, subsessile and densely arranged along the branches, bright green and pinnate. Flowers are greenish yellow. The fruit is almost round, yellow-green, rather smooth, hard, six vertical lines, up to 26 mm in diameter and 5-56 grams in weight. Fibrous fruit, has a sour, bitter and astringent taste.

Dlium Myrobalan (Phyllanthus emblica)


The fruit contains high amounts of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and has a bitter taste which may come from the high density of ellagitannins such as emblicanin A (37%), emblicanin B (33%), punigluconin (12%) and pedunculagin (14%). The fruit also contains punicafolin and phyllanemblinin A, phyllanemblinin other polyphenols such as flavonoids, kaempferol, ellagic acid and gallic acid.

Stem, roots, leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds are used in traditional medicine and are an important ingredient in Ayurvedic medicine. The fruit is cooked with sugar water to be processed as candied fruit. Fruit extracts are used as traditional coloring agents.

The Malacca tree is one of the sacred trees according to Hinduism. Originally from India and Nepal, in the past the Malacca tree was widely planted in Java, and now some of it is found in dry lowland forests. This tree is fire resistant.



Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Phyllanthaceae
Subfamily: Phyllanthoideae
Tribe: Phyllantheae
Genus: Phyllanthus
Species: Phyllanthus emblica

Popular Posts

Blue pea (Clitoria ternatea)

Blue pea ( Clitoria ternatea ) is a species of plant in the Fabaceae family. It is a climbing herb with compound leaves, 5-7 leaflets, up to 12 cm long. The leaflets are oval to round, up to 4 cm long and 3 cm wide, and green. The flowers are blue and white, up to 5 cm long and 3.5 cm wide. The pods are up to 11 cm long and 1 cm wide. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Fabales Family: Fabaceae Subfamily: Faboideae Tribe: Phaseoleae Subtribe: Clitoriinae Genus: Clitoria L. in Sp. Pl.: 753 (1753) Species: Clitoria ternatea L. in Sp. Pl.: 753 (1753) HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS Clitoria spectabilis Salisb. in Prodr. Stirp. Chap. Allerton: 336 (1796) Nauchea ternatea (L.) J.-T.Descourt. in Mém. Soc. Linn. Paris 4: 8 (1826) Ternatea ternatea (L.) Kuntze in Revis. Gen. Pl. 3(2): 72 (1898) Ternatea vulgaris Kunth in F.W.H.von Humboldt, A.J.A.Bonpland & C.S.Kunth, Nov. Gen. Sp. 6: 415 (1824) HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS Clitoria albiflora Matte...

A deep-sea isopod Bathyopsurus nybelini adapted to feed submerged Sargassum algae

NEWS - Incredible footage shows a marine species, Bathyopsurus nybelini , feeding on something that sinks from the ocean’s surface. Researchers using the submersible Alvin found the isopod swimming 3.7 miles down using its paddle-like legs to catch an unexpected food source: Sargassum. Researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the University of Montana, SUNY Geneseo, Willamette University and the University of Rhode Island found the algae sinking, while the isopod waited and adapted specifically to find and feed on the sinking nutrient source. The Sargassum lives on the surface for photosynthesis. The discovery of a deep-sea animal that relies on food that sinks from the waters miles above underscores the close relationship between the surface and the deep. “It’s fascinating to see this beautiful animal actively interacting with sargassum, so deep in the ocean. This isopod is extremely rare; only a handful of specimens were collected during the groundbreaking Swedis...

Dadmari (Ammannia baccifera)

Dadmari ( Ammannia baccifera ) is a species of plant in the Lythraceae, an erect, branched herb, up to 50 cm tall, with slightly angular stems and narrow, oblong leaves about 3.5 cm long. The flowers are about 1.2 mm long, greenish or purplish, and grow in dense axillary clusters. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Myrtales Family: Lythraceae Genus: Ammannia L. in Sp. Pl.: 119 (1753) Species: Ammannia baccifera L. in Sp. Pl.: 120 (1753) HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS Ammannia baccifera f. genuina Koehne in Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 1: 260 (1880) Ammannia baccifera f. typica Koehne (1880) HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS Celosia bicolor Blanco in Fl. Filip.: 191 (1837) Celosia nana Blanco (1837) Ammannia apiculata Koehne (1880) Ammannia attenuata Hochst. ex A.Rich. in Tent. Fl. Abyss. 1: 278 (1848) Ammannia attenuata var. latifolia Koehne (1880) Ammannia attenuata var. micromerioides Chiov. in Bull. Soc. Bot. Ital. 1917: 27 (1917) Ammannia attenuata f. pe...