ဇီးဖြူ

Myanmar Name –  Zibyu

Common Name – Gooseberry, Indian gooseberry

Botanical Name – PhyllanthusemblicaL.

Family Name – Euphorbiaceae

Habitat – Typically found in a variety of habitats across the Indian subcontinent, including both tropical and subtropical regions. It is often cultivated for its fruits but can also be found growing wild in a range of environments, including dry and rocky soils.

Habit – Medium-sized tree with a spreading and somewhat weeping habit. The tree can reach a height of up to 8-18 meters (26-59 feet). The branches are slender and drooping, and the overall appearance is generally airy and graceful.

Bark – Bark grey-brown, rough, irregularly flaking; blaze pink-red.

Leaves – Alternate, bifarious on short deciduous branchlets, closely overlapping, subsessile; stipules minute, lateral, linear; lamina 0.4-1.5 x 2-4 mm, oblong or linear-oblong, base round, apex obtuse and shortly apiculate, glabrous, membranous; nerves obscure.

Inflorescence – Solitary or arranged in small clusters in the leaf axils. The inflorescence is generally inconspicuous, and the flowers are usually greenish-yellow in color.

Flower – Flowers unisexual, 2-3 mm across, greenish-yellow, densely clustered in leaf axils; male flowers: tepals 6, oblanceolate, 1.5 mm, obtuse, stamens 3, anthers oblong, connate by their connectives; apiculate; disc glands 6; female flowers: tepals 6, oblanceolate, obtuse; ovary superior, 1.5 mm, 3-celled; ovules 2 in each cell; styles 3, broadly fimbriate, recurved, stigmatiferous.

Fruit – Fruit a capsule 1.5-2.5 cm across, subglobose, dehiscing into 6 cocci, disc enlarged to give an appearance of fleshy yellowish-green, indehiscent berry.

Seed – Small, brown, and hard.

Flowering and Fruiting Time – Flowering in March – May and fruiting in November – February.

Usage – The bark of this plant, when boiled and consumed, offers relief from diarrhea and heartburn, while also serving as a hemostatic agent when crushed and applied to wounds. Its fruit is reputedly beneficial for intestinal diseases and can potentially improve eyesight, while its application has been associated with alleviating skin conditions and hiccups.