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Pterospermum acerifolium
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Family:
STERCULIACEAE
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Citation: Pterospermum acerifolium (L.) Willd., Sp. Pl. 3: 729. 1800; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 1: 368. 1874; Vajr., Fl. Palghat Dist. 90. 1990; Chandra in B.D. Sharma & Sanjappa, Fl. India 3: 448. 1993; M. Mohanan & Henry, Fl. Thiruvanthapuram 86. 1994; V. Chithra in P. Daniel, Fl. Kerala 1: 465. 2005.
Pentapetes acerifolia L., Sp. Pl. 698. 1753.
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Malayalam Name(s):
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
Dinnerplate tree
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Description:
Tree, 12-15 m tall; bark smooth, ash-coloured; branchlets ferruginous-tomentose. Leaves polymorphous, obovate to orbicular or oblong, cordate, sometimes peltate at base, coarsely serrate at margin, entire or sinuately lobed at apex, 18-32 x 10-28 cm, grey-tomentose beneath; stipules multifid, caducous. Flowers axillary, solitary or in 2 or 3 flowered cymes, fragrant; bracts semilunar; bracteoles laciniate, caducous. Sepals linear-oblong, obtuse, 11-12.5 x 0.7-1.4 cm, fleshy, densely tomentose outside, villous inside. Petals linear-oblong, 8-10 x 0.7-1.2 cm, slightly shorter than sepals, stellate-pubescent outside, white. Staminodes ca 6 cm long, clavate. Ovary oblong, 5-loculed; ovules many in 2 rows; stigma clavate. Capsules stalked, oblong, 7.5-14 cm long, 5-angled, woody and brown-tubercled. Seeds obliquely ovoid, compressed with a large membranous wing.
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Habit:
Tree
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Flowering & Fruiting:
May-June
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District(s):
Palakkad, Thrissur, Thiruvananthapuram
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Medicinal:
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Habitat:
Grown as avenue tree
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Distribution:
Continental Asia; introduced elsewhere
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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:
Sappal hill-Dhoni R. F.
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