Casearia ovata (Lamk.) Willd. - FLACOURTIACEAE

Synonym : Casearia esculenta Roxb

Vernacular names : Tamil: Kakkai-palai; Kolai aili; Gutti; KottargovaiMalayalam: Anavananki; Pannimurangam; Pannimurunga;Vella - kunnan; MalampavattaKannada: Hillange

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Botanical descriptions Ecology Distribution Literatures

Botanical descriptions :

Habit : Trees up to 15 m tall.
Trunk & Bark : Bark greenish, smooth; blaze light orange.
Branches and branchlets : Branchlets terete, glabrous.
Leaves : Leaves simple, alternate, distichous; stipule caducous; petiole 0.4-0.9 cm long, canaliculate, glabrous; lamina 5-15 x 2.5-6.4 cm, narrow elliptic to elliptic-ovate, apex acuminate, acumen usually twisted, base attenuate or subacute, margin entire or serrate, chartaceous, glabrous, with pellucid transparent dots and lines; midrib flat above; secondary_nerves 6-10 pairs; tertiary_nerves broadly reticulate.
Inflorescence / Flower : Flowers in axillary fascicles, glabrous, white.
Fruit and Seed : Capsule, 2-3 valved, subglobose to ellipsoid, orange when ripe; seeds many with arils.

Ecology :

Subcanopy trees in evergreen forests up to 1800 m.

Distribution :

India and Sri Lanka; in the Western_Ghats- South and Central Sahyadris.

Literatures :

Briq., Ann. Cons. Jard. Bot. Geneve 62. 1898; Gamble, Fl. Madras 1: 521. 1997 (re. ed); Sasidharan, Biodiversity documentation for Kerala- Flowering Plants, part 6: 31. 2004; Saldanha, Fl. Karnataka 1: 269. 1984; Cook, Fl. Bombay 1: 520. 1903; Almeida Fl. Maharashtra 1:62 .1996.

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