Litsea oleoides (Meisner) J.Hk. - LAURACEAE

Vernacular names : Malayalam: Matthi

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Botanical descriptions Ecology Distribution Literatures

Botanical descriptions :

Habit : Trees up to 30 m tall.
Trunk & Bark : Bark brownish, smooth.
Branches and Branchlets : Branchlets subterete, glabrous.
Leaves : Leaves simple, alternate, spiral; petiole 2-3.5 cm long, stout, canaliculate, glabrous; lamina 13.5-18 x 6-9.5 cm, elliptic to elliptic-obovate, apex acute or obtuse, base rounded-attenuate to acute, margin entire, glabrous, glaucous beneath, coriaceous; midrib slightly canaliculate; secondary_nerves ca. 8 pairs, not prominent; tertiary_nerves obscure; higher order nerves closely reticulate.
Inflorescence / Flower : Flower in axillary racemes.
Fruit and Seed : Berry, depressed globose, 2 cm long, seated on short flattened fruiting_perianth_cup; seed 1.

Ecology :

Canopy trees in evergreen forests, between 400 and 1400 m.

Distribution :

Endemic to the Western_Ghats- South and Central Sahyadri.

Literatures :

Hooker, Fl.Brit.India 5: 175. 1886; Gamble, Fl. Madras 2: 1236. 1993 (re. ed); Sasidharan, Biodiversity documentation for Kerala- Flowering Plants, part 6: 399. 2004.

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