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Scientific Classification
Kingdom: Plantae (Plants)
Phylum: Tracheophyta (Vascular plants)
Class: Magnoliopsida (Dicotyledons / Flowering plants)
Order: Gentianales (Plants with opposite leaves and fused petals)
Family: Rubiaceae (Madder or Coffee family)
Genus: Ixora L. (A large genus of tropical evergreen shrubs and trees)
Species: Ixora brachiata Roxb.
MALAVA
Botanical Name: Ixora brachiata (Buch.-Ham. ex Roxb.) Kosterm.
Family: Moraceae
Common Name: Marathi- Malava, Lokhandi; English- Torchwood Ixora
Distribution:
Malava is native to South Asia. It is primarily distributed across the Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats of India.
Conservation Status:
Range: Strictly endemic to India, primarily found in the moist evergreen and tropical
deciduous forests of the Western Ghats.
Conservation: It is highly sensitive to excessive sunlight and forest degradation. It requires
a moist, shaded understory to thrive, making it an ecologically vulnerable species.
Description:
Habit: Grows as a small tree or large shrub reaching heights of 8 to 10 meters, with a dense, smooth, greyish-brown trunk.
Leaves: Simple, oppositely arranged, and leathery (coriaceous). They are elliptic-oblong
or elliptic-obovate, measuring about 7.5 to 20 cm in length.
Flowers: Tiny (about 5-6 mm) and bisexual, featuring narrow, 4-lobed petals that reflex backward. They are arranged in long, panicled cymes with distinct, reddish, pubescent
stalks and bloom profusely.
Fruits: Produces small, globose berries (7-8 mm across) that transition from green to reddish, and eventually purplish-black upon ripening.
Uses: Plants are used primarily in traditional and ethnomedicine to treat skin diseases, infections, and diabetes. Its dense, hard wood is utilized for tool handles, while the flowers,
bark, and roots are applied in traditional remedies