Microtropis ramiflora Wt. - CELASTRACEAE

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Botanical descriptions Ecology Distribution Literatures

Botanical descriptions :

Habit : Small trees, up to 8 m tall.
Branches and Branchlets : Branchlets terete, glabrous.
Leaves : Leaves simple, opposite, decussate; petiole about 0.3-0.4 cm long; lamina 6.5-8.5 x 3.5-4.7 cm, broadly elliptic or obovate, apex rounded, sometimes with retuse tip, base rounded or cuneate, margin revolute, coriaceous, pale beneath; secondary_nerves 6-8 pairs, not prominent above; tertiary_nerves admedially_ramified.
Inflorescence / Flower : Flowers in sessile clusters at axils or on older branches.
Fruit and Seed : Capsule ellipsoid with persistent style, 1-seeded.

Ecology :

Common canopy trees in high altitude evergreen forests between 1800 and 2400 m.

Distribution :

India and Sri Lanka; in the Western_Ghats- common in Nilgiris, Anamalai and Palani Hills.

Literatures :

Wight, Ic. t. 977. 1845; Gamble, Fl. Madras 1: 207. 1997 (re. ed); Sasidharan, Biodiversity documentation for Kerala- Flowering Plants, part 6: 97. 2004.

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