Mastixia arborea (Wt.) Bedd. ssp. arborea - CORNACEAE

Synonym : Bursinopetalum arboreum Wt.

Vernacular names : Tamil: Velichi  Malayalam: Mattipal

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Botanical descriptions Ecology Distribution Literatures

Botanical descriptions :

Habit : Trees up to 20 m tall.
Trunk & Bark : Bark brownish, lenticellate.
Branches and Branchlets : Branchlets subterete, glabrous.
Exudates : Exudates resinous.
Leaves : Leaves simple, alternate, spiral; petiole 1-4 cm long, canaliculate, glabrous; lamina 6.5-16 x 2-10 cm, elliptic or obovate, apex caudate-acuminate with blunt tip (acumen 0.8-1.8 cm long), base cuneate to attenuate, margin entire or slightly revolute when dry, green above, pale beneath, glabrous; midrib canaliculate above; secondary_nerves 4-8 pairs gradually curved; tertiary_nerves somewhat closely_horizontally_percurrent.
Inflorescence / Flower : Inflorescence terminal panicles.
Fruit and Seed : Drupe, ellipsoid, 1.8-3.8 x 2 cm, crowned by the scar of calyx-lobes, 1-seeded.

Ecology :

Subcanopy trees in evergreen forests, up to 1900 m.

Distribution :

Endemic to the Western_Ghats- South and Central Sahyadris.

Literatures :

Beddome, Fl. Sylv. 216. 1872; Gamble, Fl. Madras 1: 573. 1997 (re. ed); Sasidharan, Biodiversity documentation for Kerala- Flowering Plants, part 6: 208. 2004; Saldanha, Fl. Karnataka 2: 64. 1996.

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