Ficus drupacea Thunb. var. pubescens (Roth) Corner - MORACEAE

Synonym : Ficus mysorensis Heyne; Ficus mysorensis Heyne ex Roth var. pubescens Roth

Vernacular names : Tamil: Kallal; Kal-ala; Sonnai-alaMalayalam: Chela; Kallal; KattaluKannada: Bili Goli

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Botanical descriptions Ecology Distribution Literatures

Botanical descriptions :

Habit : Trees up to 25 m tall, aerial roots numerous, arising in tufts from the stout branches.
Trunk & Bark : Bark greyish, lenticellate; blaze cream.
Branches and branchlets : Young branchlets terete (rugose when dry), brown pubescent.
Exudates : Latex white, profuse.
Leaves : Leaves simple, alternate, spiral; stipules 1 cm long, pubescent, caducous leaving annular scar; petiole to 1.5-3.5 cm long, planoconvex in cross section, pubescent; lamina 10-22 x 6-15 cm, broadly elliptic-oblong or ovate, apex acute or acuminate, base rounded or subcordate, margin entire, brown pubescent beneath when young, later glabrescent; midrib raised above; secondary_nerves 8-12 pairs, prominent; tertiary_nerves broadly reticulate.
Inflorescence / Flower : Inflorescence syconia, axillary, solitary, subglobose, sessile, brown pubescent; flowers unisexual.
Fruit and Seed : Syconium, sessile, oblong or obovate, ca. 2.5 cm long, orange yellow when ripe, pubescent; achene smooth.

Ecology :

Canopy trees in disturbed evergreen to semi-evergreen forests up to 1000 m.

Distribution :

India to Indo-China and Sri Lanka; in the Western_Ghats- South, Central and Maharashtra Sahyadris.

Literatures :

Gard. Bull. Singapore 17: 381. 1960 & 21: 13. 1965; Gamble, Fl. Madras 3: 1361.1998 (re.ed); Sasidharan, Biodiversity documentation for Kerala- Flowering Plants, part 6: 439. 2004; Saldanha, Fl. Karnataka 1: 116.1984; Cook, Fl. Bombay 2: 645. 1902; Almeida, Fl. Maharashtra 4b:366. 2003.

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