Xanthophyllum arnottianum Wt. - XANTHOPHYLLACEAE

Synonym : Xanthophyllum flavescens Roxb.

Vernacular names : Tamil: MuttainarathaiMalayalam: Madukka, Madakka, Mottal.

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Botanical descriptions Ecology Distribution Literature

Botanical descriptions :

Habit : Large shrubs or small trees up to 8 m tall.
Trunk\bark : Bark grey, smooth; blaze orange.
Branchlets : Branchlets greenish, terete, glabrous.
Leaves : Leaves simple, alternate, distichous; petiole 0.4-0.7 cm long, canaliculate, glabrous; lamina 5.5-15 X 2- 5.5 cm, narrow elliptic to elliptic-oblong or oblong-lanceolate, apex acuminate with blunt tip, base acute or slightly attenuate, margin entire or slightly undulate; chartaceous or subcoriaceous, glabrous; midrib slightly raised above; secondary_nerves 5-9 pairs, gradually curved; tertiary_nerves horizontally reticulo-percurrent.
Flowers : Inflorescence terminal or axillary panicles, tomentose; flowers white-yellowish; pedicel up to 0.5 cm long.
Fruit& seed : Drupes, 1-celled, globose, rugose, dark green, 2.2 cm across; seed one.

Ecology :

Understorey trees in disturbed evergreen to semi-evergreen forests up to 1200 m.

Distribution :

Endemic to the Western_Ghats- South and Central Sahyadris.

Literature :

Wight, Illustr.1: 50.t. 23. 1840; Gamble, Fl. Madras 1: 59. 1997 (re. ed); Sasidharan, Biodiversity documentation for Kerala- Flowering Plants, part 6: 36. 2004; Saldanha, Fl. Karnataka 2: 268. 1996.

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