Lasianthus rostratus Wt. - RUBIACEAE

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Botanical descriptions Ecology Distribution status Literature

Botanical descriptions :

Habit : Large shrubs or small trees up to 5 m tall.
Trunk\bark : Bark brown, smooth.
Branchlets : Branches horizontal; branchlets subterete to compressed, densely brown hirsute.
Leaves : Leaves simple, opposite, decussate; stipule linear subulate, interpetiolar, caducous and leaving scar; petiole 0.2-0.5 cm long, planoconvex in cross section, hirsute; lamina 7.5-12.5 x 2.7-3.2 cm, elliptic-ovate to elliptic-oblong, apex caudate-acuminate, base acute to obtuse, margin entire, tomentose beneath; midrib slightly canaliculate above; secondary_nerves 5-7 pairs; tertiary_nerves horizontally closely percurrent.
Flowers : Inflorescence axillary fasicles; flowers sessile, white.
Fruit& seed : Drupe, globose, surmounted with persistent calyx lobes; seeds 4.

Ecology :

Understorey trees in evergreen forests between 600 and 1000 m.

Distribution :

Endemic to southern Western_Ghats- Elamalai to Anaimalai in South Sahyadri.

status :

Vulnerable (IUCN, 2000).

Literature :

Cal. J. Nat. Hist. 6: 510. 1846; Gamble, Fl. Madras 2: 647. 1993 (re. ed); Sasidharan, Biodiversity documentation for Kerala- Flowering Plants, part 6: 222. 2004.

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