Beautiful Shots Raman Ji Never seen this tree. On Mon, Feb 13, 2012 at 4:27 PM, raman <[email protected]> wrote:
> Star Gooseberry is a small deciduous tree reaching about 25-30 ft in > height. Leaves are compound, 14-25 inches long, crowded at the ends of the > branches leaflets 2-3.5 inches long by 1-1.5 inches wide, alternately > arranged along the rachis, ovate or obliquely ovate, acute or somewhat > acuminate, base rounded or somewhat wedge-shaped. The genus name > Phyllanthus is derived from Greek words meaning leaf-flower, an allusion to > the apparent bearing of flowers on the leaves. The species name acidus is > on account of the acidity of the fruit. Flowers are very minute, in short > dense spike-like clusters arising from nodules along the branches, like > mulberries. Fruit is pendulous, in small clusters from the branches, round > or slightly flattened at the poles, with shallow or deep ribs (usually 5) > 0.75 inch across. The tree usually flowers and produces fruit twice a year. > Fruits appear simultaneously with the flowers. So, the tree usally has > fruits hanging from it, at any time of the year. The fruit is used chiefly > for pickling and for the preparation of preserves. It makes an excellent > jam. Star Gooseberry is native of Malay Islands and Madagascar and > frequently grown in India for its acid fruit. > > Raman > -- Regards Dr Balkar Singh Head, Deptt. of Botany and Biotechnology Arya P G College, Panipat Haryana-132103 09416262964
