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

Lolot (Piper sarmentosum)

Lolot pepper ( Piper sarmentosum ) is a species of plant in Piperaceae, perennial herb, erect or lodging, creeping rhizome, up to 120 cm long, branched, enlarged branches, cylindrical stems, brown or green, often grooved, growing on the forest floor and shade. P. sarmentosum has leaf stalks up to 15 cm long, up to 13 cm wide, green, alternately arranged, heart-shaped, pointed tips and flat margins. The leaves have 5 main veins from the base of the blade, linear and slightly curved to the tip, glands on the upper surface and many fine pinnate veins. The upper side is shiny green, the lower side is pale green. The flowers are white. The fruit grows in the upper armpit of the leaf, is slightly oval and green. The leaves are used as a medicine for asthma, malaria, stomach ache, tinea versicolor, toothache, difficulty urinating, aches and pains, maintaining stamina, antibacterial, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and so on. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiosperma...

East Indian globe thistle (Sphaeranthus indicus)

Gorakhmundi or gorakh mundi or mundi buti ka phool or mundi booti ka phool or sembung delan or East Indian globe thistle ( Sphaeranthus indicus ) is a species of plant in Asteroideae, a perennial, multi-branched, strong fragrance with erect stems, winged and toothed wings, growing wild in rice fields forming colonies, dense open rugs in the tropics. S. indicus has alternating sitting leaves, oval, narrow at the base, toothed and serrated, 1-3 cm long and green. Leaves 2-7 cm long, 1-3 wide, broad and deep wings, continuing into a large bone in the center of the leaf to a sharp tip and several lateral veins. The flower is round, grows at the tip, has a large and long stalk, is purple in color, 8-15 mm in size, consists of many tiny flowers, green or red or purple and has pale purple stamens. Head ovate-ellipsoid and 12-15 mm long. Phyllaries are white and have purple crest. Female flowers have a corolla tube 2-2.5 mm long. The bisexual flowers are 2.3-3 mm long and the hardened pa...

Yellow garden spider (Argiope appensa)

Yellow garden spider ( Argiope appensa ) is a species of spider in Araneidae that lives on the coast to forests on islands in the western Pacific Ocean. Black and yellow females are striking and have a length of 5.1-6.4 cm including long legs, while males are brown and have a length of about 1.9 cm. A. appensa lives on cliffs in the hills at 600 m above sea level in Kewu plain to rice fields in the lowlands. They make nests at a height of 1.5 meters from the ground between teak ( Tectona grandis ), sonokeling ( Dalbergia latifolia ), sonosiso ( Dalbergia sissoo ), crown flower ( Calotropis gigantea ) and various grasses. Yellow garden spiders grow in large sizes, but are not toxic to humans. Advanced builds ball-shaped nets and most of them make stabilizers which are zigzag-shaped lines in nets made of thicker bands. This species spends more time in stationary and sits in the middle of the net with its head down to wait for insects to be entangled in fine silk thread. Unli...