English: Indian screw tree; East Indian screw tree; Deer's horn.
Sanskrit: Avartani; Avartphala.
Hindi: Marorphali; Bhendu; Jonkphal.
Marathi: Kewad; Muradsheng.
Bengali: Antamora.
Gujarati: Maradashingh
Kannada: Yedmuri
Telugu: Vadampiri
Malayalam: Idampiri valampiri.
Thai: S̄amunpra pai ka bid (สมุนไพรปอกะบิด)
Sinhala: Liniya.
Vernacular names: Mochra; Mudmudika; Kurkurbicha; Sinkri; Valumbari; Vedamuri; Pita baranda; Valumbari; Balampari; Guvadarra; Pedamuri; Ishwarmuri; Murmuriya; Vurkatee.
Indonesia: Buah kayu ules; Ulet-ulet.
Region: southern Asia and northern Oceania; India, Pakistan, Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Malay Peninsula, Java, Australia.
Content: antioxidants, carbohydrates, proteins, fibre, calcium, phosphorus, iron; gallic acid, caffeic acid, vanillin, p-coumaric acid; Cucurbitacin b; isocucurbitacin b; rosmarinic acid and their derivatives; isoscutellarein and their derivatives; D-glucopyranosyl isorinic acid with rosmarinic acid; helisterculins A and B; helisorin.
Use: fibers from the bark for ropes and sacks; fruits, exported from India to 19 countries;roots for folk medicine.
TaxonomyHelicteres and Helicteioideae were usually assigned to the family Malvaceae, or sometimes to the
Sterculiaceae.
BotanySmall tree or large shrub; 5 to 8 m tall.
Stem: grey bark.
Leaves: alternately, hairy, ovate, serrate margins.
Flowers: brick red or orange-red.
Fruits: green when raw, brown or grey when dried; twisted!!, with a screw at its pointed end.
Pollination: by sunbirds, butterflies,
Hymenoptera; jungle babbler, golden-fronted leafbird, ashy drongo, the white-bellied drongo.
Seeds: black or brown; highly polished; roughly rhomboid, and rectangular or triangular.