Vepris bilocularis (Wt. & Arn.) Engl. - RUTACEAE

Synonym : Toddalia bilocularis Wt. & Arn.

Vernacular names : Malayalam: Karakil, Moothassari

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Botanical descriptions Ecology Distribution status Literature

Botanical descriptions :

Habit : Large trees up to 16 m tall.
Trunk\bark : Bark large corky lenticellate; blaze cream with orange speckels.
Branchlets : Branchlets terete, glabrous.
Leaves : Leaves compound, trifoliate, alternate, spiral; rachis canaliculate in cross section, pulvinate, glabrous; petiolule 0.3-1.5 cm long, planoconvex in cross section; leaflets 7.6-25.4 x 3.8-10.2 cm, narrow elliptic, apex long acuminate with blunt tip, base slightly attenuate, margin entire, coriaceous; midrib nearly flat above; intramarginal nerves present; secondary_nerves nearly straight parallel; tertiary_nerves usually admedially ramified.
Flowers : Inflorescence panicles, terminal or axillary; flowers unisexual, dioecious, sessile.
Fruit& seed : Berry, fleshy, globose, 2 celled, gland dotted; seeds 1-2 per cell.

Ecology :

Subcanopy trees in wet evergreen forests between 100 and 1200 m.

Distribution :

Endemic to southern Western_Ghats- South and Central Sahyadris.

status :

Rare (Ahmedullah & Nayar, 1986).

Literature :

Engl. & Prantl., Nat. Pflazenf. 3: 178. 1896; Gamble, Fl. Madras 1: 151. 1997 (re. ed); Sasidharan, Biodiversity documentation for Kerala- Flowering Plants, part 6: 83. 2004; Saldanha, Fl. Karnataka 2: 225. 1996; Cook, Fl. Bombay 1: 180.1903.

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