Olax zeylanica

Olax zeylanica
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Core eudicots
Order: Santalales
Family: Olacaceae
Genus: Olax
Species: O. zeylanica
Binomial name
Olax zeylanica
Wall.

Olax zeylanica is a plant in the Olacaceae family. It is found only in Sri Lanka, where it is widely used as a leafy vegetable in rural areas. It is known by local people as "මැල්ල - mella" in Sri Lanka.

Leaves

ovate-oblong, acute base, acute apex.

Trunk

young branches yellow, acutely angled, finely ridged, glabrous.

Flowers

few, very small; Inflorescence - axillary racemes.

Fruits

scarlet, broadly ovoid, strongly apiculate, smooth drupe, base with cup-shaped calyx.

Ecology

intermediate forest subcanopy.

Uses

leaves- vegetable, medicinal.

It is widely used as leafy vegetable and also as remedy for snake bites in Sri Lankan Ayurvedic medicine.

References