Averrhoa carambola L.

Common Name: Carambola, Star Fruit
Family: Oxalidaceae R.Br.

Country of Origin: believed to have originated in Sri Lanka and the Moluccas
Habitat:

Description: This dense, evergreen tree common in India and China grows to about 20'. Red and white flowers appear on bare branches or at leaf bases. Fruit has a thin, waxy, green-yellow, yellow or orange skin. Oblong and five-angled it is star-shaped when cut across the middle. It has a sweet, watery, slightly acid, pleasant tasting pulp that is eaten raw or preserved. Seedlings have been known to bear in 3 years. Large trees have been known to survive 26�F without damage but young trees must be protected from frost.
[Vietnamese: khe, mit, ma dun, ma fueang]

Uses: Useful part: Leaves, Fruits.
Medicinal Uses: In India, the ripe fruit is administered to halt hemorrhages and to relieve bleeding hemorrhoids; and the dried fruit or the juice may be taken to counteract fevers. A conserve of the fruit is said to allay biliousness and diarrhea and to relieve a "hangover" from excessive indulgence in alcohol. A salve made of the fruit is employed to relieve eye afflictions. In Brazil, the carambola is recommended as a diuretic in kidney and bladder complaints, and is believed to have a beneficial effect in the treatment of eczema. In Chinese Materia Medica it is stated, "Its action is to quench thirst, to increase the salivary secretion, and hence to allay fever." A decoction of combined fruit and leaves is drunk to overcome vomiting. Leaves are bound on the temples to soothe headache. Crushed leaves and shoots are poulticed on the eruptions of chicken-pox, also on ringworm. The flowers are given as a vermifuge. In southeast Asia, the flowers are rubbed on the dermatitis caused by lacquer derived from Rhus verniciflua Stokes. Burkill says that a preparation of the inner bark, with sandalwood and Alyxia sp., is applied on prickly heat. The roots, with sugar, are considered an antidote for poison. Hydrocyanic acid has been detected in the leaves, stems and roots. A decoction of the crushed seeds acts as a galactagogue and ernmenagogue and is mildly intoxicating. The powdered seeds serve as a sedative in cases of asthma and colic. (From Purdue Hort Fact Sheets http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/carambola.html )