Bilimbi - Averrhoa bilimbi

Common Name :	Cucumber tree, Bilimbi, Tree sorrel, etc.
Botanical Name :	Averrhoa bilimbi
Family :	Oxalidaceae
Bangla Name :	Bilimbi (বিলিম্বি/বিলিম্বী).
Photo Taken :	Bangladesh

Our today's flower is Bilimbi. This plant is native to the East asian region. This plant grows naturally in few places in Bangladesh. Botanical name of the plant is Averrhoa bilimbi and belongs to the family Oxalidaceae. Common name of the plant is Cucumber tree, tree sorrel, Bilimbi, etc. In Bangladesh we also call this as Bilimbi.

Bilimbi fruit.

Bilimbi (Averrhoa bilimbi) is a small growing plant that can reach up to 10 meter in height. It can produce branches quickly. Leafs are compound and arranged as a whirl around the stem. A single leaf can have around 40 leaflets arranged almost alternately. Leaflets are having short petiole, lens or elliptical shaped with tipped at the end. This plant has a similarity with the Carambola plant (also known as Star fruit).

Bilimbi fruit.

The flower of Bilimbi is maroon in color. It has five slender petals (kind of star shaped). Inner side of the flower is slightly whitish. The stamen, stigma, filament all are white in color. The bract of the flower is pale maroon. Flowers bloom as a cluster and that emerges from the trunk of the plant.

Fruits are green in color and yellowish green when ripe. They are small sized fruit but having a shape of cucumber (hence named Cucumber tree). Also the plant belongs to the family of the wood sorrel plant that's why it has other name Tree sorrel. Bilimbi fruits are juicy but extremely sour in taste. The seed of the fruit is brownish in color. Fruits are available throughout the year. Experts suggest to remove leafs to aid the trunk to have more sunlight so that it can bring more fruits.

A Bilimbi plant.

This fruit is used to add extra flavor to the soup and to make curry paste and sauces. In our country we use this to cook the fish, meat and Daal. People also make pickle from this fruit. The plant has several medicinal uses too. Leafs can be used to relief the itching, swelling, bites from poisonous insects, etc. Fruit can help to reduce internal bleeding for stomach.

Photos of Averrhoa bilimbi were taken from Banani, Dhaka during April 2015. This plant can be seen a lot in front of the houses in Banani and Gulshan area. It grows a lot in Comilla, Brahmanbaria, and Chittagong region of our country.


This article has written by Lonely Traveler,
for the blog http://icflora.blogspot.com/