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Mimusops elengi
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Family:
SAPOTACEAE
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Citation: Mimusops elengi L., Sp. Pl. 349. 1753; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 3: 548. 1882; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 765(538). 1921; Manilal & Sivar., Fl. Calicut 157. 1982; Mohanan, Fl. Quilon Dist. 241. 1984; Ansari, Fl. Kasaragod Div. 221. 1985; Antony, Syst. Stud. Fl. Kottayam Dist. 232. 1989; Babu, Fl. Malappuram Dist. 396. 1990; M. Mohanan & Henry, Fl. Thiruvanthapuram 277. 1994; Sasidh. et al., Bot. Stud. Med. Pl. Kerala 19. 1996; Sasidh. & Sivar., Fl. Pl. Thrissur For. 267. 1996; Sivar. & Mathew, Fl. Nilambur 397. 1997; Sasidh., Fl. Periyar Tiger Reserve 228. 1998; Sasidh., Fl. Chinnar WLS 180. 1999; Sasidh., Fl. Parambikulam WLS 180. 2002; Mohanan & Sivad., Fl. Agasthyamala 414. 2002; Anil Kumar et al., Fl. Pathanamthitta 296. 2005; Sunil & Sivadasan, Fl. Alappuzha Dist. 408. 2009; Ratheesh Narayanan, Fl. Stud. Wayanad Dist. 496. 2009.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Bakulam, Elanchi, Elangi, Mukura
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
Asian bullet wood, Bullet wood, Bakul tree, Spanish cherry, West India medlar
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Description:
Evergreen trees, to 20 m high, bark dark grey, cracked or fissured longitudinally, scaly, rough; lenticels vertical; exudation milky; young branches brown pubescent. Leaves simple, alternate, spiral, 4-12 x 3.5-7.5 cm; elliptic or elliptic-oblong, apex obtuse to acuminate, base round or obtuse, margin entire, glabrous, coriaceous; stipules lanceolate, caducous; petiole 15-40 mm long, slender, grooved above, pubescent; lateral nerves many, slightly raised beneath, parallel, slender, looped near the margin forming intramarginal nerves; intercostae reticulate. Flowers bisexual, white, fragrant, 1-3 in axillary fascicles, pedicel 1 cm long. Calyx lobes 8 in 2 series of 4 each, thick, outer lanceolate, valvate, pubescent. Corolla 1 cm across; lobes 24, 3 series of 8 each, with hairs on back and margins, acuminate. Stamens 8, alternating with pilose staminodes; filaments 1 mm, anthers oblong, cordate, 3 mm, connectives apiculate; staminodes lanceolate, acuminate, fimbricate, pilose. Ovary 0.1-0.15 cm long, void, hirsute without, 6-8-celled; 1 ovule in each cell; style columnar, 5 mm; stigma minutely fimbricate. Fruit a berry, yellow, ovoid, 2.5 cm long, 1.5 cm across, fleshy, epicarp thin; seed usually 1, oblong-ellipsoid, laterally compressed.
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Habit:
Tree
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Flowering & Fruiting:
December-August
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District(s):
All Districts
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Medicinal:
Yes
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Habitat:
Semi-evergreen and evergreen forests, also grown in homesteads
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Distribution:
Indo-Malesia
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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
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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:
Peechi, Vellanimala, Vazhani, Kombakkayam, Chinnar, Thannikkudy, Kariamchola, Kottayali, Ezhimala, Kodumon, Cheruvathur, Peradala, Thrikkunnapuzha, Pooyamkutty, Nilambur, Peppara
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