Gnidia glauca (Fresen.) Gilg - THYMELAEACEAE

Synonym : Lasiosiphon glaucus Fresen.; Lasiosiphon eriocephalus Decne

Vernacular names : Tamil: Nacchi-nar, VandakollipattiMalayalam: Nanju, Nangu, Nanjinar, NanchuKannada: Mukkude

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Botanical descriptions Ecology Distribution Literature

Botanical descriptions :

Habit : Small trees up to 7 m tall.
Trunk\bark : Bark brownish, irregularly scaly when mature; blaze yellowish.
Branchlets : Young branchlets angular to terete, pubescent when young, later glabrous.
Leaves : Leaves simple, alternate, spiral, clustered at twig ends; petiole 0.3 cm long, slender, planoconvex in cross section, pubescent when young; lamina 4-8.5 x 1-2 cm, narrow elliptic to elliptic-obovate, apex acute with mucronate tip, base obtuse or attenuate, margin entire, pubescent beneath; midrib flat or slightly canaliculate above; secondary_nerves up to 10 pairs, not prominent; tertiary_nerves broadly reticulate or obscure.
Flowers : Flowers yellow, in terminal heads, with involucrate silky bracts; pedicel 0.2 cm long.
Fruit& seed : Fruit indehiscent, dry, small, 1-seeded.

Ecology :

Along margin of evergreen forests between 500 and 2000 m.

Distribution :

India, Sri Lanka and Africa; in the Western_Ghats- throughout.

Literature :

Engler, Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 19. 265. 1894; Gamble, Fl. Madras 2:1244. 1993 (re.ed.); Sasidharan, Biodiversity documentation for Kerala- Flowering Plants, part 6: 402. 2004; Saldanha, Fl. Karnataka 2: 20. 1996; Cook, Fl. Bombay 2: 542.1908; Almeida, Fl. Maha.

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