Microtropis microcarpa Wt. - CELASTRACEAE

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Botanical descriptions Ecology Distribution Literatures

Botanical descriptions :

Habit : Small trees, up to 8 m tall.
Branches and Branchlets : Branchlets terete, glabrous.
Leaves : Leaves simple, opposite, decussate; petiole ca. 0.7 cm long; lamina 3-9.3 x 1.6-4.7 cm, elliptic to ovate, apex obtuse, base rounded to cuneate, coriaceous, pale beneath, olive-grey when dry; secondary_nerves 6-8 pairs, slender; tertiary_nerves admedially_ramified.
Inflorescence / Flower : Inflorescence cymes, 4-8 cm long.
Fruit and Seed : Capsule, brown, apiculate, sepals persistent in fruit; 1-seeded, arillate.

Ecology :

Subcanopy trees, generally along the margin in high altitude evergreen forests, between 1600 and 2300 m.

Distribution :

Endemic to the Western_Ghats- common in Nilgiris and also recorded in Palani Hills and Agasthyamalai Hills.

Literatures :

Wight, Ic. 3: 7. 975. 1845; Gamble, Fl. Madras 1: 207. 1997 (re. ed); Sasidharan, Biodiversity documentation for Kerala- Flowering Plants, part 6: 97. 2004; Cook, Fl. Bombay 1: 229. 1902.

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