Psychotria nigra (Gaert.) Alston - RUBIACEAE

Synonym : Psychotria thwaitesii J.Hk.

English   Kannada   Tamil   

Botanical descriptions Ecology Distribution Literature

Botanical descriptions :

Habit : Shrubs or small trees ca. 4 m tall.
Branchlets : Young branchlets subterete, compressed, glabrous.
Leaves : Leaves simple, opposite, decussate; stipule intrapetiolar, broadly ovate and apiculate, sheathing; petiole 0.6-1.8 cm long, planoconvex in cross section, glabrous; lamina 10-16 (-20) x 3.5-6 cm, oblanceolate to obovate, apex acuminate, base cuneate to decurrent, margin entire, glabrous, chartaceous; midrib raised above; secondary_nerves 12-15 pairs, regular, nearly parallel, domatia at axils of secondary_nerves; tertiary_nerves obscure or broadly reticulate.
Flowers : Inflorescence small heads on whorled branches of peduncled cymes; flowers sessile.
Fruit& seed : Drupe, white, ellipsoid to 0.8 cm across, with two planoconvex pyrenes; seeds 1 per pyrene.

Ecology :

Undergrowth in evergreen forests up to 1800 m.

Distribution :

Western_Ghats and Sri Lanka; in the Western_Ghats- South and Central Sahyadris.

Literature :

Trimen, Handb. Fl. Ceylon 6 (Suppl.): 152. 1931; Gamble, Fl. Madras 2: 640. 1993 (re. ed); Sasidharan, Biodiversity documentation for Kerala- Flowering Plants, part 6: 232. 2004. Cook, Fl. Bombay 1: 615.1903; Almeida, Fl. Maharashtra 3:54. 2001.

Top of the Page