Hopea utilis (Bedd.) Bole - DIPTEROCARPACEAE

Synonym : Balanocarpus utilis Bedd.

Vernacular names : Tamil: Karankongu  Malayalam: Karakongu

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Botanical descriptions Ecology Distribution Literatures

Botanical descriptions :

Habit : Trees up to 25 m tall.
Trunk & Bark : Bark dark brown, longitudinally flaky.
Branches and Branchlets : Branchlets terete, glabrous.
Leaves : Leaves simple, alternate, spiral; petioles ca. 1.2 cm long; lamina 12.5-18 x 3-5 cm, lanceolate, apex gradually acuminate with blunt tip, base acute, margin entire; midrib raised above; secondary_nerves 10-12 pairs; tertiary_nerves closely_horizontally_percurrent.
Inflorescence / Flower : Inflorescence axillary panicles ; flowers yellowish white.
Fruit and Seed : Nut, ca. 1.2 cm across, globose, apiculate, enclosed at the base of thickened and accrescent_calyx_lobes; seed 1.

Ecology :

Canopy trees in dry evergreen forests between 300 and 600 m.

Distribution :

Endemic to the Western_Ghats- confine to leeward side of Agasthyamalai Hills.

Literatures :

Kew Bull. 146. 1951; Gamble, Fl. Madras 1: 84. 1997 (re. ed); Sasidharan, Biodiversity documentation for Kerala- Flowering Plants, part 6: 45. 2004.

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