Diospyros malabarica (Desr.) Kostel. of Family Ebenaceae and Ochna serrulata (Hochst.) Walp. of Family Ochnaceae: Addition to the flora of Pakistan

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1 BIOLOGIA (PAKISTAN) 2010, 56 (1&2), PK ISSN Diospyros malabarica (Desr.) Kostel. of Family Ebenaceae and Ochna serrulata (Hochst.) Walp. of Family Ochnaceae: Addition to the flora of Pakistan MUHAMMAD AJAIB & ZAHEER-UD-DIN KHAN Department of Botany, GC University Lahore, Pakistan ABSTRACT During the field survey of Punjab province two pretty trees were identified as Diospyros malabarica (Desr.) Kostel., Gaub of family Ebenaceae and Ochna serrulata (Hochst.) Walp. Mickey Mouse Plant of family Ochnaceae. They were found growing at different locations in Districts Lahore & Faisalabad for the last 10 years. Diospyros malabarica (Desr.) Kostel. was characterized by its globose fruit upto 3.5cm in diameter with persistent calyx. Young fruit of the tree was green, tinted red while Ochna serrulata (Hochst.) Walp. was characterized by its round, succulent fruit initially green but turning red to black when ripened on the red expanded part of the stalk (receptacle) and being surrounded by the bright red petal-like structures (sepals). These plant species have not been reported in Flora of Pakistan, hence it is an addition into it. Key words: Diospyros malabarica, Ochna serrulata, family Ochnaceae, family Ebenaceae, Gaub, Mickey Mouse Plant, Flora of Pakistan INTRODUCTION The genus Diospyros of family Ebenaceae, first described by Linnaeus in 1753, was documented in the Flora of Pakistan by Ghazanfar (1978) but its species Diospyros malabarica (Desr.) Kostel., was distributed in India, Thailand and North Malaysia (Wiart 2006). Diospyros malabarica (Desr.) Kostel. introduced as an ornamental tree in Pakistan, adopted well in this climate producing flowers and fruits. The ethnomedicinal information gathered from well known herbal practioners (Hakims) of District Lahore indicated that all parts of this plant specially bark, leaves, flowers and fruits are used in different medicinal preparations. The bark and leaves are anti-inflammatory, febrifuge, depurative, constipating, acrid, astringent, cooling and are used in dyspepsia, leprosy, diarrhoea, dysentry, haemorrhages, skin burning, diabetes, spermatorrhea, vaginal diseases, wounds, flatulence, prolepsis, scabies and as carminative, laxative and tonic. Fruits being bitter in taste are used as carminative, aphrodisiac and in digestive disorders. Similar medicinal uses of this plant have also been reported by Warrier et al., (1996). Ochna serrulata (Hochst.) Walp. belonging to the Family Ochnaceae DC. having South African origin was cultivated in most parts of the world because of its showy flowers, though it is distributed to tropical zones, mainly in the Neotropics. About 37 genera and 460 species are reported so far in this family (Zhang et al.1984; Mabberley 2008). According to Brickell & Zuk (1997) the plant is resistant to spiders & mites. Ethnobotanically the plant root is used to treat enema, gangrenous rectitis and bone diseases in children (Joslyn et al., 2003).

2 18 M. AJAIB & Z. KHAN BIOLOGIA (PAKISTAN) Both of the tree species are growing well in Lahore, the Capital of Punjab and the popular city of Pakistan, situated along the left bank of river Ravi and is greatly expanding due to profuse urbanization and high population growth rate. Climatically Lahore falls in subtropical arid type in which summers are really hot and the winters are mild cold (Anonymous 2009). Lahore is known as the City of Gardens. Diospyros malabarica (Desr.) Kostel. is found almost in each garden of Lahore while Ochna serrulata (Hochst.) Walp. is growing at Badshahi Mosque or "Emperor's Mosque" in one of its lawns, opposite to Iqbal Park. Description of Diospyros malabarica (Desr.) Kostel. (Syn.: Diospyros peregrina (Gaertn.) Gurke) Medium sized spreading evergreen ornamental tree, about 15m in height with dark gray or black bark, young parts silky and covered with gray tomentum. Leaves simple, elleptic, ovate, rounded at base, 13.5cm long and 4.5cm broad, alternate, exstipulate, coriacious, glabrous, reticulation prominent, petiolate; petiole upto 1cm long. Male flowers 3-5 in paniculate drooping cymes with pedicillate creamy white small flowers. Female flowers solitary with 4 styles and ovary 8 celled. Fruit globose, 3.5cm in diameter with persistent calyx, the young fruit, green and tinted red (Pl. 1a,b,c and d). Fl. per: July-September. Vern. Guab,Gaabh Vern. Eng. Indian Persimmon, Voucher Specimen No. SAH: This species was not reported by Parker (1956), Chaudhary (1969), Stewart (1972) and Ghazanfar (1978) in the Flora of Pakistan. Therefore, the key prepared by Ghazanfar (1978) needs revision to include Diospyros malabarica (Desr.) Kostel. Key to the species: Flowers sessile to shortly pedicellate. Berry 13-22mm in diameter, dark purple to black..d. lotus Flowers pedicellate Pedicels 10-15mm long. Berry 3-7cm in diameter, orange to red....d. kaki Pedicels not more than 5mm long. Berry upto 3.5cm in diameter, young fruit green, tinted red..d. malabarica Description of Ochna serrulata (Hochst.) Walp. An erect, evergreen shrub upto 3.5 m tall with slightly rough and much branched stem having numerous lenticels on branches. Leaves alternate, oblong to elliptic, slightly undulate, stipulate, finely serrulate, pinkish-bronze when young, glossy green when matured, 10 cm long and 5 cm broad; petiole upto 0.5 cm long. Flowers solitary or in clusters on lateral branches with stalks 1-2 cm long. Sepals 5 broadly elliptic, yellow-green, becoming enlarged and oblong with age and upto 2 cm long, strongly reflexed and bright red on maturation, persistent. Petals 5, cm long, bright yellow, soon falling, fragrant. Carpel numerous, apocarpous, style common, ovary superior. Fruit (drupe) upto 15 in number, rounded to ellipsoid, green initially, turning red to black on ripening, succulent on the red expanded part of the stalk where fruit attaches (receptacle) and surrounded by the bright red petal-like structures (sepals), becoming black when mature, one seeded (Pl. 2 a,b and c and fig 1).

3 Vol. 56 (1&2) Diospyros malabarica and Ochna serrulata 19 Propagation: By seeds which probably are dispersed by birds (Csurhes & Edwards 1998; Brickell & Zuk 1997). Native Range: Ochna serrulata is native to Eastern Cape of Good Hope area in South Africa (Palgrave 1988 & Bailey and Bailey 1976). Fl.Pr.: March-April. Vern. Eng.: Bird's-eye bush, Mickey Mouse plant. Voucher Specimen No. SAH: The presence of these two species was a new record to the flora of Pakistan as indicated by Ajaib et al., a b c d e Plate 1: Diospyros malabarica (Desr.) Kostel. a. Leaves & fruits b. Male plant preserved on SAH Herbarium sheet c. Fruit with persistent calyx d. Shoot with female flowers e. Shoot with male flowers

4 20 M. AJAIB & Z. KHAN BIOLOGIA (PAKISTAN) a b c Plate 2: Ochna serrulata (Hochst.) Walp. A, Habit; B, Flower; C, Fruit with persistent calyx Fig., 1: Ochna serrulata: A, Habit; B, Flower; C, Druplets; D, Seed REFERENCES Ajaib, M., Khan, Z., Khan, N. & Wahab, M., Euryale ferox Salisb. of the Family Nymphaeaceae: An Addition to the Flora of Pakistan. Pak. J. Bot., 42(4): Anonymous Annual rainfall, relative humidity and temperature of Lahore Pakistan Metrological Department Jail Road Lahore, Pakistan.

5 Vol. 56 (1&2) Diospyros malabarica and Ochna serrulata 21 Bailey, L. H. & Bailey, E. Z., Hortus third: A concise dictionary of plants cultivated in the United States and Canada, MacMillan, New York. pp:775. Brickell, C. & Zuk, J.D., The American Horticultural Society A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants. DK Publishing, Inc., NY. Chaudhary, S.A., Flora in Layallpur and adjacent Canal Colony. W. Pak. Agricultural University Lyallpur.pp:167. Csurhes, S. & Edwards, R., Potential Environmental Weeds in Australia: Candidate species for preventative control. Canberra, Australia. Biodiversity Group, Environment Australia. pp:208. Ghazanfar, S.A., Flora of West Pakistan. No Ebenaceae. (E. Nasir and S.I.Ali Eds.) National Herbarium, Agriculture Research Council, Islamabad, Pakistan. Joslyn, L., Taylor, S., Esameldin, E.E., Maes, A, Gorp. U.V., Kimpe, N.D., Staden, J.V. & Verschaeve, L., Investigating the safety of plants used in South African traditional medicine: Testing for genotoxicity in the micronucleus and alkaline comet assays. Environ. Mol. Mutagen, 42: Mabberley, D.J., Mabberley's plant-book: a portable dictionary of plants (3 rd Ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp: 594. Palgrave, K.C., Trees of Southern Africa. Struik Publishers, Cape Town, South Africa. Parker, R.N., A Forest Flora for the Punjab with Hazara and Delhi, Ed. 3. Superintendent, Govt. printing press Lahore. pp: Stewart, R.R., An Annotated Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of West Pakistan and Kashmir. Flora of West Pakistan E. Nasir and S.I. Ali, (eds.) Fakhri Printing Press, Karachi. Warrier, P.K., Narrbiar, V.P.K., Ramankutly, C. & Nair, R.V., Indian Medicinal Plants: a compendium of 500 species. Orient Longman Private Limited, 160 Anna Salai Channai, India. 2. pp: 339. Wiart, C., Medicinal Plants of Asia and Pacific. Taylor & Francis group, LLC. CRC Press, USA. pp: Zhang, Z., Maria, D.C. & Amaral, E., Flora of China. FOC. 12. pp: 361.

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