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Litsea keralana
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Family:
LAURACEAE
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Citation: Litsea keralana Kosterm. in Ceylon J. Sci., Biol. Sci. 12: 138. 1977.
Litsea insignis Gamble, Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1925: 130. 1925 & Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 1237(866). 1925; Mohanan, Fl. Quilon Dist. 347. 1984; Sasidh. et al., Bot. Stud. Med. Pl. Kerala 23. 1996; Sasidh. & Sivar., Fl. Pl. Thrissur For. 382. 1996; Sasidh., Fl. Periyar Tiger Reserve 351. 1998; Mohanan & Sivad., Fl. Agasthyamala 570. 2002; Anil Kumar et al., Fl. Pathanamthitta 425. 2005.
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Malayalam Name(s):
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
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Description:
Dioecious trees, to 20 m high; bark greyish-brown, lenticellate, blaze dull yellow; branchlets ferruginous tomentose. Leaves simple, alternate, estipulate; petiole 10-25 mm long, stout, ferruginous; lamina 10-25 x 3.5-14 cm, broadly, elliptic-oblong or obovate, base slightly acute, obtuse or truncate, apex obtuse, margin entire, glabrous above and roughly fulvous-pubescent beneath, coriaceous; lateral nerves 7-12 pairs, pinnate, prominent beneath, intercostae scalariform, prominent. Flowers unisexual, yellowish, in axillary, lateral or cauliflorus umbellules 10-20 together; peduncle 7-10 mm long; bracts orbicular, densely hairy; flowers 6-8 in an umbellule, sessile; perianth lobes 5, oblong, densely hairy; stamens 12, in 4 rows; filaments hairy, of rows 1 and 2 eglandular, those of rows 3 and 4 with 2-glands filaments; anthers 4-celled, introrse; staminodes as the stamens of male but those of inner rows subulate and 2-glandular; ovary enclosed irregularly lobed perianth cup, half inferior; style thick; stigma diliated. Fruit a berry 2.5-3 x 1.5-2 cm, ellipsoid, obtuse, reddish-brown, glabrous, seated on the enlarged obconic perianth tube of 1.5 cm across and 1 cm height.
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Habit:
Tree
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Flowering & Fruiting:
September-October
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District(s):
Kollam, Idukki, Pathanamthitta, Palakkad, Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur
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Medicinal:
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Habitat:
Semi-evergreen and evergreen forests
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Distribution:
Western Ghats
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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:
Western Ghats
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IUCN status:
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Altitude:
700-1000
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Localities:
Sholayar, Karadikkavala, Chenthamara, Pampa thriveny, Attayar, Chemungi
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