Litsea monopetala, Meda, Maidaa-lakdi, Litsée à un pétale, Kutmiro

Litsea monopetala (Roxb.) Pers.
Family: Lauraceae

Synonyms: Litsea polyantha Juss., Tetranthera alnoides Miq., Tetranthera fruticosa Buch.-Ham. ex Meisn., Tetranthera hexantha Sieber ex Meisn., Tetranthera hirana Buch.-Ham. ex Wall., Tetranthera macrophylla Roxb., Tetranthera monopetala Roxb., Tetranthera verticillata Buch.-Ham. ex Meisn., Tetranthera villosa Bojer, Tomex monopetala (Roxb.) Hoffmanns., Tomex pubescens Willd. ex Meisn.

• Common name: Meda
• Assamese: muga, sualu
• Bengali: bara-kukurchita
• Cantonese: 假柿樹
• Chinese: 山菠萝树, 假柿木姜子
• Frrench: Litsée à un pétale
• Hindi: Meda, Gwa, Singraf, Katmarra, Jangli-rai-am
• Kannada: gajapippali, hemmudi, kainji
• Khasi: dieng soh phohskei, dieng sohtyllap
• Manipuri: তুমিতলা Tumitla
• Marathi: ranamba
• Mizo: nauthak
• Nepali: कुटमिरो Kutmiro, 
• Sanskrit: Maidaa-lakdi
• Tamil: maidalagadil, muchaippeyetti, picinpattai
• Telugu: chiru mamidi, meda, chiru maamidi, naara, narachettu, naramaamidi

Description: Shrubs or trees, up to 7 m tall and 60 cm in diameter. Bark dark brown, exfoliating in small corky pieces; inner bark white, odorless. Wood brownish. Branchlets densely, minutely rusty sub-lanuginose. Leaves spirally arranged, chartaceous, variable, broadly elliptic to subovate-elliptic, 4-15 x 8-28 cm, obtuse, apiculate or shortly acuminate, base contracted into 1.5-2.5 cm long, slender, densely pilose petiole; upper surface glabrous, except the impressed midrib, smooth or densely, reticulate, nerves filiform, impressed; secondary nerves parallel, numerous; lower surface glaucous, sparsely, minutely pilose, denser on the nerves, 8-12 pairs of erect-patent, prominulous nerves, secondary nerves perpendicular to the nerves. Umbels numerous in densely brown pilose, 0.5 -1(-2) cm long peduncles, these attached to dwarf (5mm) axillary, bracteate branchlets or umbels behind the leaves; bracts 5-6 mm. Male flower: tube obconical, pilose inside; tepals ovate-spathulate, 2.5 mm; stamens 9-12, filaments 3 mm, thin, pilose near the base, anthers narrow, 1.25 mm, outer ones introrse; glands stipitate. Female flower: tube 1.5 mm; pedicel 2 mm long, pilose; tepals 1.5 mm; staminodes sligtly shorter than the tepals; ovary glabrous; style thick, stigma peltate, lobed. Fruit subglobose, up to 7 mm; cup shallow, up to 5 mm in diameter, pedicel up to 7 mm., slightly thickened at the apex.

Uses: Leaves  stomachic,  nerve  tonic,  applied  for  arthritis;  Amorphophallus bulbifer rhizome paste mixed with leaves  of  Litsea  monopetala  and  Mikania  micrantha  applied  externally  in  stomachache.  Bark  astringent,  stomachic,  stimulant;  bark  mucilaginous  extract  in  chronic  diarrhea  and dysentery; bark paste applied in bone fracture, body ache and swellings. A decoction of roots of Dillenia indica  with roots of Glycosmis pentaphylla and Litsea monopetala  given  in  biliousness.  Veterinary  medicine,  bark  paste  applied in bone fracture. [CRC World Dictionary of Medicinal and Poisonous Plants]

Bark—stimulant, astringent, spasmolytic, stomachic, antidiarrhoeal. Root—applied externally for pains, bruises and contusions. [Indian Medicinal Plants An Illustrated Dictionary]

10 Published articles of Litsea monopetala
1.    Improvement of health status of Litsea monopetala using plant growth promoting rhizobacteria Amrita, A., C. Usha, and C. Bishwanath, International Journal of Bio-resource and Stress Management, 2013. 4(2): p. 187-191.
2.    Vegetative propagation of Litsea monopetala, a.w.t.m.p.E.o.i.-.-b.a.I.o.s.c.T.K., Baul, et al., Journal of Forestry Research, 2011. 22(3): p. 409-416.
3.    Vegetative propagation of Litsea monopetala, a.w.t.m.p.E.o.i.-.-b.a.I.o.s.c.B., Tarit Kumar, et al., Journal of Forestry Research (Harbin), 2011. 22(3): p. 409-416.
4.    Life history of Attacus atlas L. (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) on Litsea monopetala Juss. in North-East India Sarkar, B.N., et al., Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 2010. 107(1): p. 42-44.
5.    Antioxidant activity of phenolic fractions of Litsea monopetala (Persimon-leaved litsea) bark extract Arfan, M., et al., Polish Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences, 2008. 58(2): p. 229-233.
6.    Utilization of Soalu ( Litsea monopetala Roxb.) leaves by muga silkworm ( Antheraea assamensis Helfer) Barah, A., Indian Journal of Entomology, 2007. 69(4): p. 392-395.
7.    Observation study of different lopping methods on Kutmiro ( Litsea monopetala) Shrestha, R.K., Working Paper - Lumle Agricultural Research Centre, 1998(98/3): p. 4 pp.-4 pp.
8.    Essential oils of Litsea monopetala (Roxb.) Pers. A new report from India Choudhury, S.N., et al., Journal of Essential Oil Research, 1997. 9(6): p. 635-639.
9.    Grafting in Soalu (Litsea monopetala (Roxb.) Pers): A new and successful approach under intermittent mist condition Yadav, G.S. and B.C. Goswami, Acta Botanica Indica, 1991. 19(2): p. 267-268.
10.    Effect of concentration of mixtalol (Paras) in vegetative propagation of soalu ( Litsea monopetala (Roxb.) Pers.) by apical tip cuttings Yadav, G.S. and B.C. Goswami, Banko Janakari, 1990. 2(3): p. 269-271.