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Ficus virens var. wightiana
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Family:
MORACEAE
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Citation: Ficus virens Ait. var. wightiana (Miq.) Chithra in Henry et al., Fl. Tamil Nadu ser. 1, 2: 256. 1987; Sasidh. et al., Bot. Stud. Med. Pl. Kerala 32. 1996; Sasidh., Fl. Periyar Tiger Reserve 396. 1998; Sasidh., Fl. Parambikulam WLS 314. 2002.
Urostigma wightianum Miq. in Hook.'s London J. Bot. 6: 566. 1847.
Ficus infectoria Roxb. var. wightiana (Miq.) King, Ann. Roy. Bot. Gard. (Calcutta) 1: 63. t.77. 1887; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 1362(953). 1928.
Ficus wightiana (Miq.) ex Miq., Ann. Mus. Lugd.-Bat. 3: 286. 1867; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 5: 516. 1888.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Cherla
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
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Description:
Deciduous trees, to 20 m high, often epiphytic; aerial roots few, often fluted; bark 10-12 mm thick, surface dark brown, smooth; blaze red; brown; leaves simple, alternate, spiral; stipules 10-12 mm long, lateral, broadly ovate, pubescent; petiole 3.7-6 cm long, slender, glabrous, grooved above, articulated, glandular at apex below; lamina 5-17.5 x 3-10 cm, elliptic, oblong, oblong-ovate or ovate, base round, truncate or subcordate, apex, obtusely acuminate, margin entire, glabrous, coriaceous; 3-ribbed from base, lateral nerves 5-15 pairs, pinnate, prominent, faint towards margin, intercostae reticulate, obscure. Flowers unisexual; inflorescence a syconia, axillary, paired, 1-1.5 cm across, globose, often obconical; peduncle 1-6 mm long, slender, pubescent; basal bracts 3, ovate, acute, persistent; orifice plane, closed by 3 flat apical bracts in a disc 1 mm wide, internal bristles abundant, white, chaffy-vesicular; flowers of 4 kinds; male flowers ostiolar, sessile, in 2-3 rings; tepals 2-3, ovate, acute or shortly gamophyllous; stamen 1; filament 0.5 mm; anther oblong, parallel; female flowers sessile; tepals 3-4, free; ovary superior, 1.2 mm, obovoid, sessile or stalked, red-brown; style filiform, tapering; gall flowers sessile or shortly pedicellate; tepals 3-4, reddish, spathulate to linear-lanceolate, free, ovary sessile or stalked, red-brown. Syconium white and fleshed with pink when ripe; achenes smooth.
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Habit:
Tree
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Flowering & Fruiting:
May-August
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District(s):
Palakkad, Idukki, Wayanad
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Medicinal:
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Habitat:
Evergreen and semi-evergreen forests
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Distribution:
Peninsular India
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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):
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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:
Peninsular India
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IUCN status:
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Altitude:
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Localities:
Thannikkudy, Koruthode, Mullakkudy, Kariamchola
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