Garcinia COWA Roxb.
| Synonym : | Cambogia crassifolia Blanco Garcinia cornea Roxb. ex Sm. Garcinia roxburghii Wight Oxycarpus gangetica Buch.-Ham. |
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| Bangla Name : | Kau, Cowa, Kaglichu, Kao-gola (Chittagong). ,Kao-gula (Chakma, Tanchangya), Tah Gala (Marma). |
| English Name : | Cow Tree. |
| Family : | Clusiaceae |
| Disease : | Astringent, headache,dysentery,cathartic, nausea and vomiting. |
| Description : | A medium-sized evergreen tree with horizontal branches and oval crown. Leaves 7.6-12.6 cm long, broadly to elliptically lanceolate, acuminate. Flower rather small, yellow, the male ones smaller in dense terminal clusters, the females 13 mm diam., or somewhat larger, solitary or by 3-5 at the end of the branchlets. Berry the size of a lime, slightly 6-8 lobed, dul red, somewhat depressed at the apex. |
| Distribution : | Forests of Chittagong, Chittagong Hill Tracts, Cox’s Bazar and Sylhet. |
| Chemical Constituents : | Fruit pericarp is composed of a fat and the seeds yield a wax-like fat consisting of glycerides of stearic, oleic, palmitic, linoleic and myristic acids. Bark contains a gum resin (Ghani, 2003). A new compound 1,3,6-Trihydroxy-7-methoxy-8-(3,7-dimethyl-2, |
| Uses : | Bark is astringent, used in spasm. Fruits are given in headache. Sun-dried slices of the fruits are used in dysentery. Gum resin is drastic cathartic, may produce nausea and vomiting. Ethanolic extract of the leaf possesses antibacterial properties (Anw |
| Habit : | Tree |