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Diospyros buxifolia
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Family:
EBENACEAE
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Citation: Diospyros buxifolia (Blume) Hiern, Trans. Cambridge Philos. Soc. 12: 218. 1873; Vajr., Fl. Palghat Dist. 269. 1990; Subram., Fl. Thenmala Div. 207. 1995; Sasidh. & Sivar., Fl. Pl. Thrissur For. 270. 1996; Sasidh., Fl. Shenduruny WLS 192. 1997; Sasidh., Fl. Periyar Tiger Reserve 230. 1998; Sasidh., Fl. Parambikulam WLS 181. 2002; Mohanan & Sivad., Fl. Agasthyamala 416. 2002; V. Singh, Monogr. Indian Diospyros 56. 2005.
Leucoxylum buxifolium Blume, Bijdr. 1169. 1826.
Diospyros microphylla Bedd., Ic. t. 133. 1868-1874; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 3: 559. 1882; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 776(546). 1923.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Elichevian, Elichuzhi, Kattuthuvara, Malamuringa, Thovarakari, Thovara
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
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Description:
Trees, to 30 m high, bole buttressed; bark 5-6 mm thick, blackish-grey, mottled with white, brittle; branchlets densely golden yellow hairy. Leaves simple, alternate, bifarious, 1-4.5 x 0.6-2 cm, elliptic-ovate, ovate, ovate-oblong or ovate-lanceolate, apex acute, base acute or cuneate,margin entire, coriaceous; petiole 2-3 mm, slender, hispid; glabrous above except midrib and pubescent beneath; lateral nerves 2-3 pairs, pinnate, faint, intercostae obscure. Flowers unisexual, white. Male flowers: 2-3 mm, 1-4 together in subsessile small axillary cymes; calyx densely fulvous-hairy outside; lobes 4, broadly outside; corolla campanulate, tube 0.1-0.15 cm long; lobes 4, orbicular, apiculate with a line of hairs on the back; stamens 16, in pairs, united by their filaments at base; anthers ovate, dehiscence by apical pores; pistillodes minute, hairy. Female flowers: 7-8 mm, solitary, subsessile; calyx and corolla as in males; staminodes absent; ovary superior, ovoid, pubescent, 4-celled, ovule 1 in each cell; style short 2 partite. Fruit a berry, 15-18 x 10-12 mm, oblong, pointed, purple, glabrous; seeds 1-2, endosperm equable.
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Habit:
Tree
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Flowering & Fruiting:
March-May
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District(s):
Palakkad, Idukki, Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Thrissur, Kozhikkode, Wayanad, Kannur, Malappuram, Kasaragode
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Medicinal:
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Habitat:
Evergreen and semi-evergreen forests
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Distribution:
Indo-Malesia
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Aquatic:
No
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Epiphyte(s):
No
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Saprophyte:
No
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Stem parasite:
No
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Root parasite:
No
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Flower colour(s):
White
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Weed:
No
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Monocot/Dicot:
Dicotyledonous Plants
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Exotic:
No
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Garden:
No
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Edible:
No
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Vegetable:
No
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Endemic to:
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IUCN status:
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Altitude:
700-900
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Localities:
Vellanimala, Kattalappara, Umiyar, Sabarimala, Pamba, Pezha, Walayar, Mukkali forests, Pooyamkutty, Ettapadappu, Attayar
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