Ailanthus triphysa (Dennst.) Alston - SIMAROUBACEAE

Synonym : Ailanthus malabarica DC

Vernacular names : Tamil: MattipalMalayalam: Dhup, Matti, Mattipal, Mattipala, Perumarom, PongallyamKannada: Guggul dhup

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Botanical descriptions Ecology Distribution Literature

Botanical descriptions :

Habit : Tall trees up to 15 m tall.
Trunk\bark : Bark greyish, lenticellate; blaze yellow with red speckles.
Branchlets : Young branchlets terete, with scars of fallen leaves; apical bud tomentose.
Leaves : Leaves compound, imparipinnate, alternate, spiral, crowded towards twig ends, to 1 m long; rachis pulvinate, subterete, glabrous; petiolule 0.3-0.7 cm long, glabrous; leaflets 11-21 pairs, alternate or subopposite, increasing size towards apex, 5-14 x 3-5 cm, elliptic-oblong to oblong-lanceolate, apex acute or acuminate, base asymmetric, margin entire and revolute, glaucous, tomentose beneath when young, later glabrous; midrib raised above; secondary_nerves 8-16 pairs, glands present at the fork near margin; tertiary_nerves broadly reticulate.
Flowers : Inflorescence terminal or axillary, branched panicles, drooping; flowers small, polygamous, greenish-yellow; pedicel ca. 0.2 cm long.
Fruit& seed : Samara, with large membranouos wings; seed one, pendulous.

Ecology :

Trees along margin of evergreen to semi-evergreen forests up to 1000 m; often planted.

Distribution :

Indomalaysia and Australia; in the Western_Ghats- throughout.

Literature :

Trimen, Handb. Fl. Ceylon 6 (Suppl.) 41: 1931; Gamble, Fl. Madras 1: 163. 1997 (re. ed); Sasidharan, Biodiversity documentation for Kerala- Flowering Plants, part 6: 84. 2004; Saldanha, Fl. Karnataka 2: 202. 1996; Cook, Fl. Bombay 1: 194. 1903; Almeida, F.

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