ခပေါင်း

Myanmar Name – Kabaung

Common Name – NuxVomica, Poison Nut

Botanical Name – Strychnosnux-blundaA.W.Hill.

Family Name – Linaceae

Habitat – Native to India and is distributed in moist deciduous forests throughout the tropical India.

Habit – A medium-sized, deciduous tree, with fairly straight and cylindrical bole and dark-grey or yellowish-grey bark with minute tubercles.

Bark – Gray or brown, various alkaloids, including strychnine and brucine, which are highly toxic to humans and many animals, alkaloids are found in the seeds as well.

Leaves – Simple, opposite, orbicular to ovate, 6–12 cm long and 6–10 cm broad, coriaceous, glabrous, and five-nerved.

Inflorescence – Small and greenish-white, clusters or cymes.

Flower – White or greenish white and fragrant. They occur in many flowered terminal cymes. Calyx is five lobed, pubescent, small, about 2 mm in size, while corolla is salver shaped and has five lobes. Corolla tube is cylindrical, greenish white inside and slightly hairy near the base. Stamens are five in number and have short filaments.

Fruit – Fruit is an indehiscent berry, 5–6 cm in diameter, thick shelled, orange-red when ripe with fleshy pulp.

Seed – Seeds are discoid, compressed, and coin like, concave on one side and convex on the other, and covered with fine grey silky hairs.

Flowering and Fruiting Time – Flowering time from March to May and fruiting time from June to October.

Usage – Used in making furniture and construction.