Hedyotis articularis R.Br. ex Wt. & Arn. - RUBIACEAE

Synonym : Olendlandia articularis (Wt. & Arn.) Gamble

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Botanical descriptions Ecology Distribution Literature

Botanical descriptions :

Habit : Large shrubs to small trees.
Trunk\bark : Bark brownish, smooth; blaze cream.
Branchlets : Young branchlets angular, glabrous.
Leaves : Leaves simple, opposite, decussate, clustered at twig ends; stipule laciniate, interpetiolar, basally connate, caducous and leaving scar, glabrous; petiole ca. 0.2 cm long, planoconvex in cross section, glabrous; lamina 1.2-3 x 0.2-0.7 cm, ovate -lanceolate, apex acute with blunt tip, base acute to truncate, margin entire and revolute, coriaceous, glabrous beneath; midrib slightly canaliculate above; secondary_nerves 4 pairs, not prominent; tertiary_nerves obscure.
Flowers : Inflorescence compact cymes, terminal; flowers subsessile, lilac outside and white within.
Fruit& seed : Capsule, obovate, glabrous with crown of persistent calyx lobes; seeds 2.

Ecology :

Trees along the margin of high elevation evergreen forests between 1800 and 2400 m.

Distribution :

Endemic to the southern Western_Ghats- Nilgiri, Anaimalai, Palani and Palakkad hills.

Literature :

Prodr. 407. 1834; Gamble, Fl. Madras 2: 597. 1993 (re. ed); Sasidharan, Biodiversity documentation for Kerala- Flowering Plants, part 6: 213. 2004.

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