Meliosma pinnata (Roxb.) Walp. ssp. barbulata (Cufod.) Beus. - SABIACEAE

Synonym : Meliosma pinnata (Roxb.) Walp. ssp. arnottiana (Wt.) Beus; Meliosma arnottiana (Wt.) Walp.

Vernacular names : Tamil: Kusavi, Thagari, HulimakaiMalayalam: Kalavi, KalyaviKannada: Huli makay, Hulimukki

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Botanical descriptions Ecology Distribution Literature

Botanical descriptions :

Habit : Trees up to 18 m tall.
Trunk\bark : Bark brownish, lenticellate; blaze pink with orange speckles.
Branchlets : Young branchlets stout, angular to subterete, lenticellate, rusty tomentose.
Leaves : Leaves compound, imparipinnate, alternate, spiral; rachis terete, rusty tomentose, pulvinate; petiolule 0.2- 1.5 cm long, rusty tomentose; leaflets 3-7 pairs with one terminal leaflet, subopposite or opposite, 6.5-15 x 2.5-5 cm, lanceolate to ovate - oblong, apex gradually acuminate, base asymmetric and acute or rounded, margin entire, sometimes remotely dentate, thinly coriaceous, tomentose on nerves beneath; midrib canaliculate above; secondary_nerves ascending; tertiary_nerves coarsely reticulate.
Flowers : Inflorescence terminal and axillary panicles, tomentose; flowers greenish, sessile.
Fruit& seed : Drupe, globose, 0.5 cm across; seed one, smooth.

Ecology :

Trees in medium and high elevation evergreen forests between 800 and 1800 m.

Distribution :

Indomalaysia and China; in the Western_Ghats- South Sahyadri and Central Sahyadri (Palakkad, Nilgiri and Bababudangiri hills).

Literature :

Dassan. & Fosb., Rev. Handb. Fl. Ceylon 3: 384.1981; Gamble, Fl. Madras 1: 256. 1997 (re. ed); Sasidharan, Biodiversity documentation for Kerala- Flowering Plants, part 6: 110. 2004; ; Saldanha, Fl. Karnataka 1: 102. 1984.

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