Gynocardia

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Rosids
Cladus: Eurosids I
Ordo: Malpighiales

Familia: Achariaceae
Tribus: Pangieae
Genus: Gynocardia
Species: G. odorata
Name

Gynocardia Roxb., 1819[1820]

Type species: Gynocardia odorata Roxb.

References

Roxburgh, W., 1819[1820]. Plants of the Coast of Coromandel 3: 95.

Links

Hassler, M. 2019. Gynocardia. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2019. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published online. Accessed: 2019 Jul. 02. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2019. Gynocardia. Published online. Accessed: Jul 02 2019.
The Plant List 2013. Gynocardia in The Plant List Version 1.1. Published online. Accessed: 2019 Jul 02.
Tropicos.org 2019. Gynocardia. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 02 Jul 2019.
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Gynocardia in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 09-Oct-10.

Vernacular names

Gynocardia is a genus of dioecious evergreen tree belonging to the Achariaceae family, containing the sole species Gynocardia odorata.[2] The trees grow up to 30 m tall. The species is found in moist forests of mountain valleys in South Asia - India, South-east Tibet and Yunnan in China, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar.
An illustration of the leaves and fruit from Roxburgh's Plants of the coast of Coromandel

The seeds of this plant have been confused with Hydnocarpus wightianus as the chaulmoogra oil, which is used in Indian medicine to treat several skin conditions and diseases. During British rule, several British doctors studied the use of this oil in the treatment of leprosy, lupus, scrofula, and many skin diseases. The oil was prescribed for leprosy as a mixture suspended in gum or as an emulsion.[3] However, it has later been clarified that the actual chaulmoogra referred to in Sanskrit texts for the treatment of leprosy, as Tuvaraka[4] is actually Hydnocarpus wightianus.[5]
References

Roxburgh,Pl. Coromandel. 3: 95. 1820.
"Gynocardia". Flora of China. Retrieved 2021-03-17 – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
Cottle, Wyndham (28 June 1879). "Chaulmoogra Oil in Leprosy". The British Medical Journal. 1 (965): 968–969. doi:10.1136/bmj.1.965.968. JSTOR 25251370. PMC 2239681. PMID 20749243.
Sudarshan, S.R. (2005). Encyclopaedia of Indian Medicine: Diseases and their cures. Mumbai: Popular Prakashan. p. 127. ISBN 81-7154-862-8.
Buckingham, Jane (2002). Leprosy in Colonial South India: Medicine and Confinement), pp. 91-92. Houndmills, UK: Palgrave. pp. 91–92. ISBN 9780333926222.