Madhuca neriifolia (Moon) H.J. Lam. - SAPOTACEAE

Synonym : Bassia malabarica Bedd.

Vernacular names : Tamil: Atta illuppeiMalayalam: Attuillupei, Neeririppa, Wallangi, Eluppa, Kattiluppa, AttilippaKannada: Ulinannil

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Botanical descriptions Ecology Distribution Literature

Botanical descriptions :

Habit : Small trees ca. 10 m tall.
Trunk\bark : Bark dark brown, irregularly scaly; blaze pinkish.
Branchlets : Branchlets terete, tomentose when young, later glabrous.
Exudates : Latex milky white, profuse.
Leaves : Leaves simple, alternate, spiral; stipules in pairs, lateral, caducous and leaving scar; petiole 0.6-2 cm long, planoconvex in cross section, glabrous; lamina 7-25 x 2.5-6.5 cm, usually oblanceolate to narrow obovate, sometimes narrow oblong, apex rounded or obtuse, base cuneate, margin entire and revolute, coriaceous, shining above; midrib raised above; secondary_nerves 15-25 pairs, nearly parallel; tertiary_nerves broadly reticulate.
Flowers : Flowers yellowish-white, in axillary fascicles; pedicels ca. 0.8 cm long.
Fruit& seed : Berry, fleshy, ellipsoid, beaked; seed one, brown.

Ecology :

Common along streams and rivers up to 1200 m.

Distribution :

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

Literature :

Lam., Bull. Jard. Bot. Buitenz. Ser. 3, 7. 182, 265. 1925; Gamble, Fl. Madras 2: 763. 1993 (re.ed.); Sasidharan, Biodiversity documentation for Kerala- Flowering Plants, part 6: 268. 2004; Saldanha, Fl. Karnataka 1: 331.1984; Cook, Fl. Bombay 2: 93.1908.

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