MOMAILTEKU

(Aglaia edulis)

Family: Meliaceae

Synonyms: Aglaia testicularis, Milnea edulis

Other names: Dieng soh-longar, gumi, khang, sinakedang.

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Momailteku grows, mostly wild, in Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Fiji Islands, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. 

            In India, this grows in the North Eastern States upto an altitude of 900 m.

Description:

A small evergreen trees 5-9 m tall; bark rufous, young branches pale brown, glabrous, with inconspicuous lenticels.

            Leaves 25-30 cm; petiole and rachis 10-15 cm, glabrous but sparsely brown squamate when young; leaflets 7(-11), alternate to subopposite; petiolules 3-11 mm, slightly inflated; leaflet blades ovate-oblong to elliptic, 5-10(-22) × 1.5-4(-11) cm, papery, both surfaces glabrous but abaxially sparsely lepidote along midvein, midvein abaxially prominent and adaxially conspicuously depressed, secondary veins 9-12 on each side of midvein and abaxially prominent, base rounded to cuneate, apex acute to acuminate.

            Flowers subsessile, globose, calyx 2 mm in diam, calyx 5-lobed; lobes rounded, sparsely brown squamate, margin ciliate; petals 5, broadly ovate, glabrous. Staminal tube globose, free from petals, glabrous, apical margin entire or undulate; anthers 5, ovoid, inserted on or near throat of tube, included or ± exserted;  style very short; stigma conical, truncate, glabrous.

            Fruit indehiscent, brown, elliptic, 2,5 cm wide, covered with thin scales.

            Seeds 1-3(mostly 2) per fruit, ellipsoid, arillate.

Uses:

The fruit is edible having a watery pulp Fruit pulp that is formed by the aril.  This pulp is pleasant to eat and is cooling.  and aril are edible.  The fruits are therefore fondly eaten by local people. 

            Timber from this tree is good and strong.  It is used for various purposes.