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Excoecaria agallocha
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Family:
EUPHORBIACEAE
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Citation: Excoecaria agallocha L., Sp. Pl. 1451. 1763; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 5: 472. 1888; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 1344(941). 1925; Manilal & Sivar., Fl. Calicut 270. 1982; Mohanan, Fl. Quilon Dist. 366. 1984; Ansari, Fl. Kasaragod Div. 339. 1985; Ramach. & V.J. Nair, Fl. Cannanore Dist. 417. 1988; Babu, Fl. Malappuram Dist. 715. 1990; M. Mohanan & Henry, Fl. Thiruvanthapuram 416. 1994; Chakrab. & Gangop., Journ. Econ. Tax. Bot. 18: 198. 1994; Anupama & Sivad., Rheedea 14: 27. 2004; N.P.Balakr. & Chakrab., Fam. Euphorbiaceae India 289. 2007; Sunil & Sivadasan, Fl. Alappuzha Dist. 633. 2009.
Stillingia agallocha (L.) Baill., Etud. Gen. Euph. 518. 1858.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Komatti, Kammetti, Kannampotti
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
Blinding tree
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Description:
Trees to 10 m high, bark grey, smooth; branchlets 2-5 mm thick, brownish or greyish. Leaves simple, alternate; stipules lateral, minute; petiole 10-30 mm long, slender, glabrous; lamina 3-13 x 1.5-5 cm, elliptic, oblong-lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, base acute, obtuse or round, apex acuminate or acute, margin crenulate-serrulate or entire, glabrous, glossy above, coriaceous; lateral nerves 5-10 pairs, pinnate, slender, prominent, intercostae reticulate, prominent. Flowers unisexual, pale green; male flowers: in axillary spikes of 3.5-12.5 cm long, 2-3 together in an axil with a series of spirally arranged bracts; each bract subtending one male flower: bracteoles narrow, on with either side of the flower, lacinate, large glands on either side, sessile; tepals 3, 1.5 × 1 mm, lacinate; stamens 3, yellow; filaments free, to 2 mm long; anthers basifixed; female flowers: in axillary racemes of 4-8 cm long, 1-2 in each axil; pedicel 3 mm long; bracteoles as in male flower; tepals 3, 1.5 × 1 mm, lacinate, closely adpressed to the ovary; ovary superior, 1-1.5 mm across, tricarpellary, ovules one in each locule, pendulous; styles 3, simple, stout, spreading, spreading, recurved; stigma 3, glandular. Fruit a capsule 4-5 x 8-10 mm, depressed globose, crustaceous, 3-celled, black; pedicels 3-5 mm long; seeds 3, globose.
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Habit:
Tree
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Flowering & Fruiting:
November-February
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District(s):
Alappuzha, Kasaragode, Kollam, Thiruvananthapuram, Malappuram, Kozhikkode, Thrissur, Ernakulam, Kannur
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Medicinal:
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Habitat:
Banks of backwaters and mangrove forests
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Distribution:
Indo-Malesia to Australia and Pacific islands
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Aquatic:
Yes
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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):
Green, Yellow
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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:
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Localities:
Cannanore, Tellicherry, Kumbla, Payyanur, Taliparamba, Anjengu areas, Chirayankil, Kodamthuruthu
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