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Litsea deccanensis
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Family:
LAURACEAE
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Citation: Litsea deccanensis Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 1235(864). 1925; Manilal & Sivar., Fl. Calicut 251. 1982; Ansari, Fl. Kasaragod Div. 325. 1985; Ramach. & V.J. Nair, Fl. Cannanore Dist. 395. 1988; Babu, Fl. Malappuram Dist. 691. 1990; Sivar. & Mathew, Fl. Nilambur 586. 1997; Sasidh., Fl. Periyar Tiger Reserve 349. 1998; Sasidh., Fl. Chinnar WLS 269. 1999; Sasidh., Fl. Parambikulam WLS 269. 2002; Ratheesh Narayanan, Fl. Stud. Wayanad Dist. 701. 2009.
Litsea tomentosa Heyne ex Nees in Wall., Pl. Asiat. Rar. 2: 65. 1831, non Blume 1826; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 5: 157. 1886.
Tetranthera tomentosa Roxb. ex Wight, Ic. t. 1834. 1852.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Pathali
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
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Description:
Dioecious trees, to 10 m high, bark somewhat rough, very dark, pustular, branchlets stout, densely pale brown-tomentellous; terminal bud with large densely pilose bud scales. Leaves simple, alternate, estipulate, crowded at the end of branchlets; petiole 9-40 mm long, stout, tomentose; lamina 7.5-24 x 4-9 cm, elliptic, obovate or elliptic-oblong, base acute or round, apex acute or acuminate, margin entire, glabrous above except on veins, glossy, finely tomentose and yellowish-white beneath, chartaceous; lateral nerves 7-15 pairs, pinnate, prominent beneath, intercostae subscalariform, faint. Flowers unisexual, pale yellow, small, in axillary, pedunculate, solitary or in many flowered umbellate heads; peduncle 10-17 mm long, drooping, tomentose; involucral bracts 4, orbicular, concave, tomentose without; pedicel upto 3 mm long, pubescent; perianth tube short, hairy outside, segments 0, stamens 18-20 in male flowers; in 4 rows, filaments long, slender, densely villous, those of 1 and 2 row usually eglandular, the rows 3 and 4 with 2 glands; anthers 4-celled, all introrse; staminodes in female flowers as the stamens of male but those of the outer rows clavate or linear, those of the inner rows subulate and 2-glandular; ovary half inferior, enclosed in the perianth tube, glabrous; style 2-3 mm long; stigma dilated, irregularly lobed. Fruit a berry, 10-12.5 mm across, globose, black, seated on flat, thickened cup.
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Habit:
Tree
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Flowering & Fruiting:
November-December
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District(s):
Palakkad, Kasaragode, Idukki, Malappuram, Kannur, Kozhikkode, Wayanad
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Medicinal:
Yes
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Habitat:
Dry deciduous forests and scrub jungles
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Distribution:
South India and Sri Lanka
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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):
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:
Mangavada, Karimutty, Thannikkudy, Mullakkudy, Karimala, on way to Brahmagiri, Beemanadi, Nedumkayam
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