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| − | {{Taxobox
| + | #REDIRECT [[Aegle marmelos]] |
| − | | color = lightgreen
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| − | | name = Bael
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| − | | regnum = [[Plant]]ae
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| − | | divisio = [[flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
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| − | | classis = [[dicotyledon|Magnoliopsida]]
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| − | | subclassis = [[Rosidae]]
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| − | | ordo = [[Sapindales]]
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| − | | familia = [[Rutaceae]]
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| − | | genus = '''''Aegle'''''
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| − | | species = '''''A. marmelos'''''
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| − | | binomial = ''Aegle marmelos''
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| − | | binomial_authority = ([[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]) Corr. Serr.
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| − | }}
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| − | '''Bael''' (''Aegle marmelos'') is a fruit-bearing [[tree]] indigenous to dry forests on hills and plains of central and southern [[India]], [[Myanmar]], [[Pakistan]], [[Bangladesh]], [[Nepal]], [[Vietnam]], [[Laos]] and [[Cambodia]]. It is cultivated throughout India, as well as in [[Sri Lanka]], northern [[Malaya]], [[Java (island)|Java]] and in the [[Philippines]]. It is also popularly known as '''Bilva''', '''Bilwa''', '''Bel''', '''Kuvalam''', '''Koovalam''', or '''Beli''' fruit, '''Bengal quince''', '''stone apple''', and '''wood apple'''. The tree, which is the only species in the genus '''''Aegle''''', grows up to 18 meters tall and bears thorns and fragrant [[flower]]s. It has a woody-skinned, smooth [[fruit]] 5-15 cm in diameter. The skin of some forms of the fruit is so hard it must be cracked open with a hammer. It has numerous seeds, which are densely covered with fibrous hairs and are embedded in a thick, gluey, aromatic pulp.
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| − | The fruit is eaten fresh or dried. The juice is strained and sweetened to make a drink similar to [[lemonade]], and is also used in making [[Sharbat]], a refreshing drink where the pulp is mixed with [[tamarind]]. The young leaves and small shoots are eaten as [[salad greens]]. The fruit is also used in religious rituals and as a [[ayurveda|ayurvedic remedy]] for such ailments as [[diarrhea]], [[dysentery]], [[intestinal parasite]]s, dryness of the eyes, and the [[common cold]]. It is a very powerful antidote for chronic constipation.
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| − | In [[Hinduism]], the [[Lord Shiva]] is said to live under the Bael tree. In India, the tree is often found in temple gardens and its leaves are used in religious celebrations.
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| − | In the traditional culture of [[Nepal]], the Bael tree is part of an important fertility [[ritual]] for girls known as the ''[[Bel baha]]''.
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| − | This tree is a larval foodplant for the following two Indian [[Swallowtail]] butterflies, the Lime Butterfly ''[[Papilio demoleus]]'' and the Common Mormon ''[[Papilio polytes]]''.
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| − | ==References==
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| − | {{cite book | author=H.K.Bakhru | title=Foods that Heal. The Natural Way to Good Health| publisher=Orient Paperbacks | year=1997| id=ISBN 81-222-0033-8}}
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| − | ==External links==
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| − | *[http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/bael_fruit.html Bael Fruit entry in ''Fruits of Warm Climates'' by J. F. Morton]
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| − | [[Category:Sapindales]]
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| − | [[Category:Flora of India]]
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| − | [[Category:Fruit]]
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| − | [[Category:Medicinal plants]]
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| − | {{fruit-stub}}
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