Hopea erosa (Bedd.) van Sloot. - DIPTEROCARPACEAE

Synonym : Balanocarpus erosa Bedd.

Vernacular names : Tamil: Karunkongu

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Botanical descriptions Ecology Distribution Literatures

Botanical descriptions :

Habit : Trees about 18 m tall.
Trunk & Bark : Bark smooth, thin.
Branches and Branchlets : Young twigs and petioles minutely hairy when young.
Leaves : Leaves simple, alternate, spiral; petiole stout, ca.0.5 cm long; lamina 10-25 x 3-6 cm, elliptic-oblong to oblong-lanceolate, apex acute, base rounded or subcordate, margin entire, glabrous; midrib raised above; secondary_nerves 12-14 pairs, tertiary_nerves weakly reticulo-percurrent.
Inflorescence / Flower : Inflorescence panicles in axillary fascicles.
Fruit and Seed : Nut, obovoid or oblong, apiculate, 2.5 x 1.5 cm; fruiting_calyx woody, truncate.

Ecology :

Subcanopy tree in low elevation wet evergreen forests often common near streams, up to 700 m.

Distribution :

Endemic to the Western_Ghats- with disjunct distribution. Recorded from Agasthyamalai Hills and western Anamalai in South Sahyadri and Ghats Wayanad in Central Sahyadri.

Literatures :

Reinwardtia 3: 318. 1956; Gamble, Fl. Madras 1: 84. 1997 (re. ed); Sasidharan, Biodiversity documentation for Kerala- Flowering Plants, part 6: 44. 2004.

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