KUDUMI
(Polyalthia cerasoides)

 A tree of kudumi

Family: Annonaceae

Synonym: Uvaria cerasoides

Other names: Potamasu, budhi chamadi

Kudumi has probably originated in India.  It grows wild on dry hills, monsoon and deciduous forests and sometimes in evergreen forests in the Indian states of Bihar, Orissa and Assam.  It bears small fruits which are sweet and edible.  Kudumi, however, is not a plant of very common occurrence.
 

 Kudumi leaves

            Besides India, kudumi trees also grow in China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

Description:

A medium sized tree upto 20 m tall, bark grayish black, branchlets densely pubescent, glabrescent, lenticellate with age.

Leaves oblong, oblong-lanceolate, or sometimes elliptic, 6-19 × 2.5-6 cm, abaxially yellowish and pubescent, adaxially often bluish green when dry and glabrous except for minutely hairy midvein, secondary veins 7 or 8 on each side of midvein, base broadly cuneate to rounded, apex obtuse, petiole 2-3 mm.

 Flowers of kudumi
 

Inflorescences axillary, 1-flowered, flowers 1-2 cm wide, pedicel 1-2 cm, puberulent, with 1 or 2 leafy bracteoles below middle; sepals oblong-ovate, 8-9 mm, outside pilose, apex acuminate; petals green but black when dry, subequal or inner petals shorter than outer petals, oblong-ovate, 8-9 mm, thickly leathery, puberulent; stamens cuneate, connectives apically truncate: carpels oblong, pubescent; ovule 1 per carpel; stigmas ovoid, apex entire, flowers are very fragrant and are sometimes used as perfume.

 Unripe fruits of kudumi

 Monocarp stipes 1.5-2 cm, weak; monocarps red but black when dry, ovoid to subglobose, ca. 6 mm in diam., glabrous.

Utlilization:

Kudumi fruits taste sweet and are eaten by local people.  These are, however, not traded.

 Kudumi fruits

            The wood of this tree is light and is used as timber in house construction.  It is also used in planks, rafters, packing cases and for boat building.  It is also a good firewood.

Cultivation:

Kudumi is not cultivated except sometimes in forestry. For this new plants are raised by seed and from root suckers. plants are