Tarenna asiatica (L.) Kuntze ex K. Schum. var. rigida Wt. - RUBIACEAE

Synonym : Rondeletia asiatica L.; Chomelia asiatica (L.) Kuntze

Vernacular names : Tamil: TharaniMalayalam: Kuppipoovu, Tharana

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Botanical descriptions Ecology Distribution Literature

Botanical descriptions :

Habit : Large shrubs to small trees up to 6 m tall.
Trunk\bark : Bark greyiesh brown, scaly; blaze with orange speckles.
Branchlets : Young branchlets angular, terete when mature, glabrous; apical bud usually exudes yellow resin.
Leaves : Leaves simple, opposite, decussate; stipules triangular with apiculate tip, interpetiolar, caducous and leaving scar; petiole 0.5-2 cm, canaliculate, glabrous; lamina 8-18 x 4-8 cm, elliptic to elliptic-ovate, apex shortly and abruptly acuminate with blunt tip, base attenuate, margin entire and revolute, glabrous beneath; midrib usually raised above and canaliculate when dry; secondary_nerves 9-12 pairs, hairy domatia present at axils of secondary_nerves; tertiary_nerves broadly reticulate.
Flowers : Inflorescence terminal corymbose cymes; flowers cream to yellow, subsessile.
Fruit& seed : Berry, 2-celled; seeds many.

Ecology :

Along margins of high elevation evergreen forests above 1600 m.

Distribution :

Endemic to the southern Western_Ghats- Agasthyamalai, Anaimalai, Palani hills, Niligirs and Bababudangiri hills.

Literature :

Bot. Tidsskr. 24: 332. 1902; Gamble, Fl. Madras 2: 613. 1993 (re. ed); Sasidharan, Biodiversity documentation for Kerala- Flowering Plants, part 6: 236. 2004; Almeida, Fl. Maharashtra 3:59. 2001.

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