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

Japanese morning glory (Ipomoea nil)

Japanese morning glory ( Ipomoea nil ) is a species of plant in the Convolvulaceae family, a climber with twining stems that grow up to 5 meters long. The green, finely hairy leaves are 14 cm long, heart-shaped at the base, entire or 3-5-lobed, tapering at the edges. The flowers are funnel-shaped, blue to reddish-purple with a whitish tube, 5 cm wide and up to 7 cm long. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Solanales Family: Convolvulaceae Subfamily: Convolvuloideae Tribe: Ipomoeeae Genus: Ipomoea L. in Sp. Pl.: 159 (1753) Species: Ipomoea nil (L.) Roth in Catal. Bot. 1: 36 (1797) HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS Convolvuloides triloba Moench in Methodus: 452 (1794) Convolvulus nil L. in Sp. Pl., ed. 2.: 219 (1762) Pharbitis nil (L.) Choisy in Mém. Soc. Phys. Genève 6: 439 (1833 publ. 1834) HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS Convolvulus caeruleus (Roxb. ex Ker-Gawl.) Spreng. in Syst. Veg., ed. 16. 1: 593 (1824) Convolvulus coelestis G.Forst. in Fl. Ins...

Moist pimpernel (Lindernia dubia)

Moist pimpernel ( Lindernia dubia ) is a species of plant in the Linderniaceae. It is a herbaceous, ground-growing, erect, cylindrical stem with red to light brown color. The leaves are green, oval, up to 10 mm long, up to 7 mm wide, with rounded tips and reddish veins. The flowers are funnel-shaped, bluish-white, with yellow veins. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Lamiales Family: Linderniaceae Genus: Lindernia All. in Auct. Syn. Meth. Stirp. Hort. Regii Taur. 3: 178 (1766) Species: Lindernia dubia (L.) Pennell in Monogr. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 1: 141 (1935) Variety: Lindernia dubia var. dubia, Lindernia dubia var. rhizomatosa Pennell ex D.Q.Lewis HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS Ilysanthes dubia (L.) Barnhart in Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 26: 376 (1899) Ilysanthes gratioloides Benth. in A.P.de Candolle, Prodr. 10: 419 (1846) Gratiola dubia L. in Sp. Pl.: 17 (1753) Limnophila dubia (L.) M.R.Almeida in Fl. Maharashtra 3B: 393 (2001)...

Philippine spinach (Talinum fruticosum)

Philippine spinach ( Talinum fruticosum ) is a species of plant in the Talinaceae family. It is an erect, non-woody herb, growing up to 100 cm tall. The leaves are radially arranged, up to 15 cm long and 5 cm wide, with a large central vein. The surface is smooth, shiny, dark green, and pinnate at the base. The inflorescences are in clusters. The flowers are fan-shaped with five red or white petals, with yellow anthers. Fruit round, up to 5 mm wide. This plant grows wild in colonies on forest floors, agricultural lands, roadsides, and abandoned areas. TAXON Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Caryophyllales Family: Talinaceae Genus: Talinum Adans. in Fam. Pl. 2: 245, 609 (1763) Species: Talinum fruticosum (L.) Juss. in Gen. Pl.: 312 (1789) HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS Portulaca fruticosa L. in Syst. Nat., ed. 10. 2 (1759) HETEROTYPIC SYNONYMS Ruelingia triangularis (Jacq.) Ehrh. in Beitr. Naturk. Verw. Wiss. 3 (1788) Calandrinia andrewsii ...