Averrhoa bilimbi L.

 

Family:  Oxalidaceae

Synonym:   Averrhoa abtusangulata Stokes

Vernacular name: Bilibi, Bilimbi, Chemmeenpuli, Chimbili, Irumbampuli, Keerichakka,

Habit: Tree

Habitat: Garden plant

Distribution:Cultivated in tropics

Flowering and Fruiting: Throughout the year

Key identification features: It is an evergreen tree that grows up to 10 m tall. Its leaves typically form tufts at the tips of branches and each leaf has 5-19 pairs of leaflets.  The tree produces cauliflorous panicles that emerge from tubercles on the main trunk. The individual flowers are solitary and erect. The fruits are cylindric, obtuse, and obtusely angled.

Use: The leaves are used as a paste against itches, eaten against syphilis, and the leaves are used against mumps, rheumatism, pimples, and piles.