Ixora nigricans R. Br. Wt. & Arn. - RUBIACEAE

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Vernacular names : Malayalam: Cherukuravu

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Botanical descriptions Ecology Distribution Literature

Botanical descriptions :

Habit : Large shrubs or small trees, up to 5 m tall.
Trunk\bark : Bark smooth.
Branchlets : Branchlets subterete to compressed, glabrous.
Leaves : Leaves simple, opposite, decussate; stipules linear - subulate with broad base to 0.9 cm long; petiole 0.4-1.2 cm long, glabrous, planoconvex in cross section, sometimes canaliculate due to folding of its margin; lamina 6-16 x 2-6 cm, variable in shape, narrow elliptic to elliptic or oblanceolate to narrow-obovate, apex acuminate, base cuneate to attenuate, margin entire, chartaceous, glabrous, black when dry; midrib flat above; secondary_nerves 6-12 pairs; tertiary_nerves slender broadly reticulate to reticulo-percurrent.
Flowers : Inflorescence terminal panicled cyme; flowers white.
Fruit& seed : Berry 0.7 cm across, nearly globose; seeds two.

Ecology :

Common undergrowth in evergreen forests to dry evergreen forests up to 1900 m.

Distribution :

Indomalaysia; in the Western_Ghats- throughout.

Literature :

Prodr. 4. 428. 1834; Gamble, Fl. Madras 2: 631. 1993 (re. ed); Sasidharan, Biodiversity documentation for Kerala- Flowering Plants, part 6: 219. 2004; Almeida, Fl. Maharashtra 3:24. 2001; Cook, Fl. Bombay 1: 609.1903.

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