Gynocardia odorata

Gynocardia odorata is a species of evergreen tree belonging to the Achariaceae family. The trees grow up to 30 m tall. The species is found in moist forests of mountain valleys in South Asia - India, South-east Xizang and Yunnan in China, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar.

An illustration of the leaves and fruit from Roxburgh's Plants of the coast of Coromandel

Gynocardia odorata
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Achariaceae
Genus: Gynocardia
Species:
G. odorata
Binomial name
Gynocardia odorata
Synonyms

Chaulmoogra odorata Roxb.
Chilmoria dodecandra Buch.-Ham.

The seeds of this plant have been confused with Hydnocarpus wightianus as the chaulmoogra oil, which is used in Indian medicine to treat several skin conditions and diseases. During British rule, several British doctors studied the use of this oil in the treatment of leprosy, lupus, scrofula, and many skin diseases. The oil was prescribed for leprosy as a mixture suspended in gum or as an emulsion.[2] However, it has later been clarified that the actual chaulmoogra referred to in Sanskrit texts for the treatment of leprosy, as Tuvaraka[3] is actually Hydnocarpus wightianus.[4]

References
  1. Roxburgh,Pl. Coromandel. 3: 95. 1820.
  2. Cottle, Wyndham (28 June 1879). "Chaulmoogra Oil in Leprosy". The British Medical Journal. 1 (965): 968–969. doi:10.1136/bmj.1.965.968. JSTOR . 25251370 .. PMC 2239681. PMID 20749243.
  3. Sudarshan, S.R. (2005). Encyclopaedia of Indian Medicine: Diseases and their cures. Mumbai: Popular Prakashan. p. 127. ISBN 81-7154-862-8.
  4. Buckingham, Jane (2002). Leprosy in Colonial South India: Medicine and Confinement), pp. 91-92. Houndmills, UK: Palgrave. pp. 91–92.


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