Buchanania lanceolata Wt. - ANACARDIACEAE

Vernacular names : Tamil: Katuma.  Malayalam: Mala-mavu.

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Botanical descriptions Ecology Distribution Status Literatures

Botanical descriptions :

Habit : Trees.
Branches and Branchlets : Branchlets terete, glabrous.
Leaves : Leaves simple, alternate, spiral, crowded at the end of the branchlets; petioles 1-1.5 cm long, glabrous, canaliculate; leaf blade 5-11.5 x 2-3.5 cm, lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, apex shortly acuminate, base cuneate, glabrous beneath, secondary_nerves 10-12 pairs, tertiary_nerves reticulate.
Inflorescence / Flower : Inflorescence terminal or axillary panicle, 5-7 cm long, finely rusty tomentose; flowers bisexual, yellow; pedicels 0.5-1 cm long, pubescent, calyx ovate, pubescent; petals glabrous, reflexed.
Fruit and Seed : Drupe, 1.5 cm across, compressed, glabrous, 1-seeded.

Ecology :

Rare, understorey tree in low elevation evergreen to semi-evergreen forests.

Distribution :

Western_Ghats (South Malabar and South Sahyadri) of India and Myanmar.

Status :

Vulnerable (IUCN, 2000).

Literatures :

Wight, Ic. t. 237. 1839 & Illustr.1: 185; Gamble, Fl. Madras 1: 259. 1997 (re. ed); Sasidharan, Biodiversity documentation for Kerala- Flowering Plants, part 6: 111. 2004.

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