Maesa indica (Roxb.) DC - MYRSINACEAE

Synonym : Baeobotrys indica Roxb.; Maesa dubia (Wall.) DC; Maesa perrottetiana A.DC

Vernacular names : Tamil: Peria-unniMalayalam: Kariithi; Kireethi; Kirithi

English   Kannada   Tamil   

Botanical descriptions Ecology Distribution Literatures

Botanical descriptions :

Habit : Small trees up to 4 m tall.
Trunk & Bark : Bark reddish brown, lenticellate; blaze brownish.
Branches and branchlets : Young branchlets subterete, grey pubescent, lenticellate.
Leaves : Leaves simple, alternate, spiral; petiole 2-3 cm long, canaliculate, pubescent when young; lamina 9-15 x 4.5-7.5 cm, elliptic-ovate or ovate -lanceolate, apex acuminate, base acute to rounded or slightly attenuate, margin coarsely serrate to dentate, pilose beneath; midrib raised above; secondary_nerves 8-13 pairs; tertiary_nerves broadly reticulate to obscure.
Inflorescence / Flower : Inflorescence axillary panicled racemes; flowers polygamous, white.
Fruit and Seed : Berry globose, whitish-pink when ripe; seeds numerous, angular.

Ecology :

Undergrowth in the disturbed evergreen to semi-evergreen and moist deciduous forests, up to 1800 m.

Distribution :

Indomalaysia and Pakishtan; in the Western_Ghats- throughout.

Literatures :

Trans. Linn. Soc. London 17: 134. 1834; Gamble, Fl. Madras 2: 749.1993 (re.ed); Sasidharan, Biodiversity documentation for Kerala- Flowering Plants, part 6: 266. 2004; Saldanha, Fl. Karnataka 1: 351. 1984; Cook, Fl. Bombay 2: 88. 1908; Almeida, Fl. Maharashtra 3a:163. 1998.

Top of the Page