Buchanania lanzan


Buchanania lanzan, commonly known as charoli nut, almondette, Cuddapah almond, calumpong, Hamilton mombin, is a deciduous tree in the family Anacardiaceae. The charoli tree is native to the Indian subcontinent, South Central China, and much of Southeast Asia.
The charoli tree produces fruit that is edible to humans. The seeds are used as a cooking spice, especially in India. Charoli seeds are also used in the Ayurveda, Unani, and Siddha systems of medicine.
Some sources misapply the name Buchanania cochinchinensis to this species.

Description

The tree grows to about. Young branches are covered with dense, matted, woolly hairs. The leaves are, broadly oblong with emarginate apices and rounded bases. The flowers are white and in diameter. The fruit are drupes, in diameter and subglobose in shape. When ripe, they are stone hard and reddish-purple in color. Flowering occurs March–April, and the fruit is generally harvested in the months of April to June.

Taxonomy

Genus Buchanania is named for Francis Buchanan, a Scottish botanist, explorer, naturalist, and surgeon in the British East India Company. B. lanzan is one of 26 currently accepted species in genus Buchanania. The species was first described in 1801 by Kurt Polycarp Joachim Sprengel. Some authorities treat B. lanzan as a synonym of B. cochinchinensis. However, B. cochinchinensis is a synonym of Glycosmis cochinchinensis.

Distribution and habitat

The charoli tree is native to Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Western Himalayas. It grows in the wet tropical biome.

Uses

Food and cooking

Though sometimes referred to as the "chironji nut" or "charoli nut", the fruit is actually a type of drupe rather than a true botanical nut. After the hard shell is cracked, the stubby seed within is similar in texture to a pine nut. The charoli seed is around in length, with a flavor resembling an almond or a pistachio. The seeds are used as a cooking spice, especially in Indian cuisine. Though they can be eaten raw, they are often toasted or roasted before use, as this intensifies the flavor of any nut or seed. They are commonly used in Indian sweets, or ground into powders for thickening and flavoring savory sauces, batters and kormas.

Traditional medicine

Charoli seeds are used in the Ayurveda, Unani, and Siddha systems of medicine. A decoction can be prepared from the bark of the stem or the leaves, to be used as a treatment for indigestion, mumps, impotence, spermatorrhea, heavy menstrual bleeding, diarrhea, and snakebite. This can also be used as an expectorant, aphrodisiac, or a laxative. The leaves can be crushed and applied to burns and wounds.

Cultivation

The species is not commercially cultivated in India. The fruit is collected by local people from the forests and sold directly to the local markets. With a potential annual production of 5000 metric tonnes, Chhattisgarh is the highest-producing state in India for charoli fruit. Leafhoppers, mealybugs, and bark-eating caterpillars are important pests of B. cochinchinensis, while gummosis and powdery mildew represent important pathogens.

Significance in Buddhism

Circa 588 BCE, the 35-year-old Siddhartha Gautama stayed for seven weeks at Uruvela, which is located in the present-day Indian state of Bihar. According to the Great Chronicle of Buddhas, he spent one week at each of seven successive locations there. During these seven weeks, he did not eat or drink, wash or excrete, or lie down. The specific locations were:
The seventh week was passed while sitting under a rājāyatana tree, where the Buddha enjoyed the bliss of his newly attained buddhahood. Upon the completion of this sattasattāha, several important "firsts" in Buddhism took place at the rājāyatana tree at Bodh Gaya, including:
According to Burmese folklore, Tapussa and Bhallika later returned to their home in Okkalapa, where they built a cetiya on Singuttara Hill, where they enshrined the hair relics given to them by the Buddha.