Vaccinium neilgherrense Wt. - VACCINIACEAE

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Vernacular names : Tamil: Kalavu, KilaMalayalam: ManalamaramKannada: Hollenugu

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Botanical descriptions Ecology Distribution Literature

Botanical descriptions :

Habit : Small trees.
Trunk\bark : Bark brownish, irregularly scaly; blaze yellowish.
Branchlets : Young branchlets terete, pubescent.
Leaves : Leaves simple, alternate, spiral; petiole ca.0.3 cm long, planoconvex in cross section, minutely pubescent when young; lamina 4.5-10 x 1-2.2 cm, lanceolate to elliptic-lanceolate, apex acuminate, base attenuate to cuneate, margin crenate-serrate, glabrous, coriaceous, glands on the midrib beneath; midrib raised above; secondary_nerves 4-6 pairs; tertiary_nerves broadly reticulate, not prominent.
Flowers : Inflorescence axillary and terminal, lax racemes; flowers white to rose colored; pedicel up to 0.7 cm long; petals outside pubescent.
Fruit& seed : Berry, smooth, globose; seeds many.

Ecology :

Along streams and margin of medium and high elevation evergreen forests between 1000 and 2100 m.

Distribution :

Endemic to the southern Western_Ghats- South and Central Sahyadris.

Literature :

Wight, Calcutta J. Nat. Hist. 8: 173. 1847 & Wight, Ic. t. 1189; Gamble, Fl. Madras 2: 741. 1993 (re.ed.); Sasidharan, Biodiversity documentation for Kerala- Flowering Plants, part 6: 263. 2004; Saldanha, Fl. Karnataka 1: 325.1984.

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