Olea paniculata R.Br. - OLEACEAE

Synonym : Olea glandulifera Wall.

Vernacular names : Tamil: PerumpunguMalayalam: Kunthai

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Botanical descriptions Ecology Distribution Literatures

Botanical descriptions :

Habit : Trees up to 15 m tall.
Trunk & Bark : Bark whitish-brown, lenticellate; blaze orange.
Branches and branchlets : Young branchlets subquadrangular, lenticellate, glabrous.
Leaves : Leaves simple, opposite, decussate; petiole 1-2 cm long, canaliculate; lamina 6-12 x 3-5.8 cm, elliptic to elliptic-obovate, apex acuminate, base attenuate, margin entire and slightly wavy, glabrous, chartaceous; midrib slightly canaliculate; secondary_nerves 4-8 pairs; hairy domatia present in the axils; tertiary_nerves reticulate.
Inflorescence / Flower : Inflorescence trichotomous cymes, terminal or axillary; flowers bisexual, cream-white.
Fruit and Seed : Drupe, ovoid, brownish-black when ripe; seed one.

Ecology :

Understorey trees in evergreen and semi-evergreen forests between 1200 and 2200 m.

Distribution :

India, Himalaya and Nepal; in the Western_Ghats- Anaimalai, Nilgiris and Bababudangiri hills.

Literatures :

DC, Prodr. 8: 294. 1844; Gamble, Fl. Madras 2: 796.1993 (re.ed); Sasidharan, Biodiversity documentation for Kerala- Flowering Plants, part 6: 279. 2004.

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