Thanks, Prashanth ji, Neil ji, Madhuri ji & Hemath ji for the feedback.
Here are some extracts from Wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morinda_tinctoria *Morinda tinctoria*, commonly known as *Aal* or *Indian Mulberry* (though these common names also refer to *Morinda citrifolia<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morinda_citrifolia> *), is a species of flowering plant<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flowering_plant>in the family Rubiaceae <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubiaceae>, native to southern Asia<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia> . It is an evergreen <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evergreen> shrub<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrub>or small tree <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree> growing to 5-10 m tall. The leaves<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaf>are 15-25 cm long, oblong to lanceolate. The flowers <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flower> are tubular, white, scented, about 2 cm long. The fruit <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruit> is a green syncarp<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Syncarp&action=edit&redlink=1>, 2-2.5 cm diameter. The plant is extensively cultivated in India<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India>in order to make the morindone <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morindone> dye sold under the trade name "Suranji". Morindone is used for the dyeing of cotton<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton>, silk <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk> and wool<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wool>in shades of red, chocolate or purple. The colouring matter is found principally in the root bark and is collected when the plants reach three to four years of age. If the trees are allowed to mature then hardly any colouring substance remains. The small roots yield the most dye and those above about 1 cm diameter are discarded. The active substance is extracted as the glucoside <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucoside> known as morindin<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Morindin&action=edit&redlink=1>that upon hydrolysis <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrolysis> produces the dye. Morindone is a mordant dye <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordant> giving a yellowish-red colour with an aluminium mordant, chocolate with a chromium mordant, and dull purple to black with an iron mordant. Morindin is also present in *Morinda umbellata* but not in *Morinda longiflora*, a native of West Africa<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Africa>. Although imported into Britain <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK> and applied to wool and cotton, the dye did not find commercial success. 2009/6/17 Hemanth <[email protected]> > > > I think, the images belong to *M. tinctoria.* > > > > *M. citrifolia:* has smooth, shiny and light green leaves. The leaves have > citric smell and fruits are not that precisely lobed as seen in M. > tinctoria. > > *M. tomentosa :* the leaves are a bit bigger in size compared to M. > tinctoria. Leaves of M. tomentosa are tomentose I.e. with smooth hairs/ > velvety. The texture is very soft. > > *M. tinctoria:* the leaves are shiny but darker and not as smooth or > glabrous as M. citrifolia or not as velvety as M. tomentosa. > > * * > > *M. tinctoria* is very common around and is wild. I am seeing *M. > tinctoria* in Borivali NP since 7 years. *M. tomentosa* is also seen wild > mixed with *M. tinctoria. * > > > > And hey, there can’t be any rule to the number of fruit ends i.e. no hard > and fast rule on the 12 ends. It should be a misconception that baratondi > should always have 12 ends. I have seen *M. tinctoria *with more than 14 > ends and less than 12 ends also. > > > > Cultivation: *M. tinctoria* and *M. tomentosa* are wild and common in > forests. *M. citrifolia *I think is the cultivated one as I have seen this > species only in gardens (there is one in byculla zoo also, checkout) > > > > Experts correct me if I am wrong ;) > > > > - Hemanth > > (the unemployed plant explorer ;) > > > > *From:* [email protected] [mailto: > [email protected]] *On Behalf Of *[email protected] > *Sent:* Tuesday, June 16, 2009 10:46 PM > *To:* J.M. Garg > *Cc:* [email protected] > *Subject:* [indiantreepix:13277] Re: Morinda citrifolia (Noni) > > > > Hi Mr.Garg, > > It is Morinda citrifolia. > > M.pubescens [M.tomentosa] has hairy [tomentose] leaves whereas in > M.citrifolia they are larger and glabrous. Also M.citrifolia has fragrant > flowes. > > Incidentally M.tinctoria is not found in the Borivali N.P. and is > cultivated more along the coast. > > With regards, > > Neil Soares. > > --- On *Tue, 6/16/09, J.M. Garg <[email protected]>* wrote: > > > From: J.M. Garg <[email protected]> > Subject: [indiantreepix:13265] Re: Morinda citrifolia (Noni) > To: "Prashant awale" <[email protected]> > Cc: "indiantreepix" <[email protected]> > Date: Tuesday, June 16, 2009, 9:12 PM > > Thanks, Prashant ji. > > How to differentiate between two species i.e. *Morinda pubescens* & *Morinda > citrifolia? *They look similar to me while going through Shrikant ji's > book. > > 2009/6/16 Prashant awale > <[email protected]<http://us.mc339.mail.yahoo.com/mc/[email protected]> > > > > Dear Garg Ji, > > Good snaps. I think this should be "Morinda pubescens". We call it > "Baratondi" due to around 12+ buldges on its fruit.. > > best wishes > Prashant.. > > On Tue, Jun 16, 2009 at 8:47 AM, J.M. Garg > <[email protected]<http://us.mc339.mail.yahoo.com/mc/[email protected]>> > wrote: > > Tree I saw in Guntur, A.P. It was flowering on 28/4/09 & it's jasmine > like smell attracted me towards it. I found the flower heads & fruits quite > interesting in shape. > > I hope Id is OK. > -- > With regards, > J.M.Garg > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Jmgarg1 > 'Creating awareness of Indian Flora & Fauna' > Image Resource of thousands of my images of Birds, Butterflies, Flora etc. > (arranged alphabetically & place-wise): > http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:J.M.Garg > For learning about Indian Flora, visit/ join Google e-group- Indiantreepix: > http://groups.google.co.in/group/indiantreepix?hl=en > > > > > -- > With regards, > J.M.Garg > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Jmgarg1 > 'Creating awareness of Indian Flora & Fauna' > Image Resource of thousands of my images of Birds, Butterflies, Flora etc. > (arranged alphabetically & place-wise): > http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:J.M.Garg > For learning about Indian Flora, visit/ join Google e-group- Indiantreepix: > http://groups.google.co.in/group/indiantreepix?hl=en > > > > > > > -- With regards, J.M.Garg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Jmgarg1 'Creating awareness of Indian Flora & Fauna' Image Resource of thousands of my images of Birds, Butterflies, Flora etc. (arranged alphabetically & place-wise): http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:J.M.Garg For learning about Indian Flora, visit/ join Google e-group- Indiantreepix: http://groups.google.co.in/group/indiantreepix?hl=en --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "indiantreepix" group. 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