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Gardenia gummifera
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Family:
RUBIACEAE
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Citation: Gardenia gummifera L. f., Suppl. Pl. 164. 1781; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 3: 116. 1880; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 618(436). 1921; Sasidh., Fl. Chinnar WLS 148. 1999; Ravikumar & Ved, Illustr. Field Guide 100 Red Listed Med. Pl. 161. 2000.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Kambimaram, Somanadikayam
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
Gummy cape jasmine, Cumbi-gum tree, Dekamella-gum gardenia
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Description:
Small trees, to 8 m high, bark 0.64 cm, greyish-brown, smooth; blaze dull yellow; exudation bright yellow resinous; branches and branchlets virgate, young parts pubescent. Leaves simple, opposite, decussate; stipules intrapetiolar, connate; petiole 1-4 mm, stout, glabrous; lamina 4-8 x 1.5-4 cm, ovate, obovate or obovate-oblong, base obtuse, round or subcordate, apex acute or obtuse, margin entire, puberulent when young, glabrous when mature, shiny, coriaceous; lateral nerves 8-20 pairs, parallel, prominent, intercostae reticulate, prominent; domatia present. Flowers bisexual, white turns to yellow, axillary, solitary or in lax cymes; calyx 4.5 mm, truncate, lobes 5, 1.5 mm, triangular, puberulous without, acute; corolla 4.5 cm across, cylindrical, lobes 5, 2.5 x 1.5 cm, puberulous without, obovate, obtuse; stamens 5, 1 cm long, included; ovary 6 x 3.5 mm, inferior, 1-celled, 5-gonous, ovules many; style 2.5 cm; stigma 5 angled, fusiform. Fruit a berry, 4 x 3 cm, ellipsoid or oblong; seeds rugose.
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Habit:
Tree
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Flowering & Fruiting:
December-May
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District(s):
Idukki
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Medicinal:
Yes
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Habitat:
Dry deciduous forests near streams
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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):
White, 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:
Peninsular India
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IUCN status:
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Altitude:
80-1100
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Localities:
Palapetty
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