Aegle marmelos, Koovalam, Bael tree, കൂവളം

Family: Rutaceae
Vernacular names: Koovalam, കൂവളം (Malayalam), Bael tree (English), Bilvah (Sanskrit), Vilva, Vilvam (Tamil)
Distribution: India and Sri Lanka; widely cultivated in South East Asia, Malesia, Tropical Africa and the United States.
Description: Small trees. Leaves alternate, 3-foliolate, rarely 5-foliolate, dimorphic. Inflorescences axillary and terminal, racemose or corymbose, few-flowered. Flowers bisexual, greenish- white or yellow, fragrant. Berries ovoid, woody, many seeded; seeds oblong and flat.
Habit: Tree
Habitat: Grown in temple premises and homesteads
Flowering & Fruiting: March-May

Parts used: Root, bark, leaves and fruits
Properties & Uses: Fruits are astringent, digestive, tonic, stomachic and laxative. Unripe fruits are used in diarrhea, dysentery and ripe fruit for constipation. Dried slice of unripe fruit is regarded as astringent, digestive and stomachic and is prescribed in diarrhea and dysentery. Unripe fruit burnt in fire is taken in empty stomach for the treatment of chronic dysentery. Fresh leaves are astringent, digestive, laxative and febrifuge; useful in ophthalmia and inflammations; fresh juice is very useful in catarrh and feverishness; with black pepper it is given in anasarca and jaundice. Root bark is useful in rheumatic pain, hypochondriasis, melancholia and palpitation of heart. Seed extracts and crude alkaloids possess moderate antifungal and antibacterial properties. Seed oil possesse antibacterial properties. Extract of the fruits and roots are hypoglycemic and spasmogenic. Leaf oil possesse broad spectrum antifungal properties.
Systems of Medicines: Ayurveda, Folk, Unani, Homeo,
Conservation Status: Vulnerable.
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