Alstonia scholaris (L.) R. Br. - APOCYNACEAE

Synonym : Echites scholaris L.

Vernacular names : Tamil: Elilaipalai, Mukam palei, Palai, Palegaruda  Malayalam: Ezhilampala, Mangalappala, Pala, Yekshippala  Kannada: Doddapala, Hale, Janthalla, Maddaale  English: Devil tree, Dita bark tree, Shaitan wood

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Botanical descriptions Ecology Distribution Literatures

Botanical descriptions :

Habit : Trees, up to 30 m tall.
Trunk & Bark : Bark greyish-brown, lenticellate.
Branches and Branchlets : Branches whorled; branchlets terete, glabrous.
Exudates : Latex milky white.
Leaves : Leaves simple, whorled with 4-7 unequal leaves; petiole 0.4-1.5 cm long; lamina 6-20 x 2.5-7 cm, narrow elliptic-oblanceolate, apex rounded or emarginate, base cuneate to decurrent, coriaceous or subcoriaceous, shining above, glaucous beneath; secondary_nerves many, closely parallel with intramarginal vein; tertiary_nerves obscure.
Inflorescence / Flower : Flowers bisexual, in terminal and lateral, paniculate cyme, greenish white.
Fruit and Seed : Follicles, linear 20-50 cm long; seeds many, linear-oblong, flat with a fringe of long hairs at both ends.

Ecology :

In open evergreen forests to moist deciduous forests, at 200-700 m.

Distribution :

Indomalaysia to Australia; in the Western_Ghats- throughout.

Literatures :

Mem. Wern. Nat. Hist. Soc. 1: 76. 1811; Gamble, Fl. Madras 2: 810-814. 1993 (re. ed); Sasidharan, Biodiversity documentation for Kerala- Flowering Plants, part 6: 280. 2004; Keshava Murthy and Yoganarasimhan, Fl. Coorg (Kodagu) 274. 1990; Cook, Fl. Bombay 1: 132. 1902.

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