Ardisia pauciflora Heyne ex Roxb. - MYRSINACEAE

Vernacular names : Malayalam: Muttamaram

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Botanical descriptions Ecology Distribution Literatures

Botanical descriptions :

Habit : Small trees up to 6 m tall.
Branches and branchlets : Branches horizontal; young branchlets subterete, densely scaly.
Leaves : Leaves simple, alternate, spiral; petiole 0.5-0.7 cm long, planoconvex in cross section, scaly when young; lamina 6-13 x 3.8-4 cm, narrow elliptic, apex acuminate with blunt tip, base cuneate, margin entire, transparent gland dotted; midrib slightly canaliculate above; secondary_nerves 16-20 pairs, slender; tertiary_nerves obscure.
Inflorescence / Flower : Inflorescence axillary or lateral, few flowered cymes or umbels; flowers white.
Fruit and Seed : Berry, globose, red; seed one.

Ecology :

Common understorey trees in medium elevation evergreen forests between 800 and 1600 m.

Distribution :

South India and Sri Lanka; in the Western_Ghats- South Sahyadri and Coorg region in Central Sahyadri.

Literatures :

Roxb., Fl. Ind. 2: 279.1824; Gamble, Fl. Madras 2: 755.1993 (re.ed); Sasidharan, Biodiversity documentation for Kerala- Flowering Plants, part 6: 265. 2004; Saldanha, Fl. Karnataka 1: 348. 1984.

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