Witnessed by: Ayurveda

Kadamba (Neolamarckia cadamba), of the Rubiaceae family. Large fast-growing deciduous tree with a straight trunk, tiered horizontal branches and broad glossy leaves; native range: the moist tropical forests of the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, on deep alluvial soil along rivers; widely planted. Globally recognized as kadamba · nīpa · priyaka · halipriya in Sanskrit, kadam · kadamb in Hindi, kadam in Bengali, and kadam · burflower tree · wild cinchona in English. The part used is the bark (kadamba tvak); also the fruit, leaf and root. Grey, fairly smooth bark, becoming rough and longitudinally fissured with age, reddish-brown within and fibrous in section; the taste astringent and bitter, drying the mouth. The globular flower-heads are orange and heavily fragrant, the fruit a fleshy compound ball, sour and edible.

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