Facts about Ceylon Caper

Flowers & Fruits

Flowers are 2-5 in a row, which are rarely soli­tary, with stout pedicel and 1-2 cm long. Sepals are concave, 1 cm long and hairy while the petals are 0.9-1.6 cm long, thin, white to pink­ish, with the inner side turning darker later from pinkish to red. There are 30-50 stamens with 2.5-3.5 cm long filaments. They are pink but later turn to dark purple. Flowering normally takes place from March. The gynophore measures 2.5-4.5 cm and hairy only towards the base.  Fertile flowers are followed by berry that is globular to ellipsoid and measures up to 3-4 cm in diameter. Skin is woody-coriaceous. Fruits are initially green turning to red to purple as they mature. Fruits consist of numerous seeds that are globase embedded in fleshy pulp

Ceylon caper Image Gallery

Ceylon-caper-growing-wild

Ceylon-caper-plant

Flower-of-Ceylon-caper

Half-cut-unripe-fruit-of-Ceylon-caper

Leaves-of-Ceylon-caper

Plant-Illustration-of-Ceylon-caper

Seeds-of-Ceylon-caper

Stem-&-bark-of-Ceylon-caper

Unripe-fruit-of-Ceylon-caper

• In the Philippines the leaves are used as a counter-irritant.
• Leaves (rubbed with salt and sometimes pounded) are used on the forehead and/or the temples as a remedy for headache.
• In Indo-China the plant is used for the same stimulant properties as the Cruciferae, also used as an antiscorbutic and for gastritis.
• Young fruits are used to cure stomach ache.
• In folk medicine, leaves used as cataplasm for boils, swelling and hemorrhoids.
• Decoction of root-bark is used for vomiting and for improving the appetite.
• Leaves also used to improve the appetite.
• Leaves are made into a poultice for treating boils, swellings and hemorrhoids.
• They are also used to reduce perspiration and to improve the appetite.
• Decoction of the root-bark is used as a remedy for vomiting and to improve the appetite.
• Root bark is ground with water, boiled and taken orally to treat indigestion.
• Traditionally it is used as Antidote to snake  bite, to cure swelling of  testicle, small pox, boils, cholera, colic,  hemiplegia, neuralgia, sores, pneumonic & pleurisy.
• Leaves are widely used as counter-irritant, febrifuge and as a cataplasm in swellings, boil and piles in Northern India.
• Leaf and stem parts are as spasmolyte.
• Root bark preparation is used as a sedative.
• Leaves extract with black pepper powder is taken twice daily for the treatment of dysentery.
• Leaves juice taken orally with cup of fresh gout milk for curing cough and cold.
• For the treatment of diabetes ripe fruits are consumed twice for fortnight and during ingestion, stem bark extract is administered thrice daily.
• Plant is also served as an appetizer prepared as a dipping paste with pepper, tamarind and garlic.
• Grind the stem bark by adding 10 seeds of black pepper, 2 bulbs of garlic and mix it into 500 ml water. It is given twice daily for two days to cure colic.
• Handful fresh roots, 50 g onions, 50 g Jaggery grind all together and make a bolus. Take it twice daily for 3 days to cure convulsive seizures.
• Bark along with native spirit is given in Cholera.
• In madras, decoction of leaves is used in Syphilis.
• Root and bark pastes are applied together for rheumatic swellings.

Culinary Uses

• It was first time reported used as vegetable.
• Seeds of the ripe fruits are eaten roasted.
• Fruit pulps edible and can be pickled.

References:

http://www.globinmed.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=105064:capparis-zeylanica-l-r&catid=286&Itemid=357

http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-2697723

https://indiabiodiversity.org/species/show/32086

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capparis_zeylanica

https://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Ceylon%20Caper.html

http://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Capparis+zeylanica

https://uses.plantnet-project.org/en/Capparis_zeylanica_(PROSEA)

https://wikivisually.com/wiki/Capparis_zeylanica

Comments

comments