|
Ailanthus excelsa
|
|
|
|
Family:
SIMAROUBACEAE
|
|
Citation: Ailanthus excelsa Roxb., Pl. Corom. 1: 24, t. 23. 1795; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 1: 518. 1875; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 163(116). 1915; R.K. Basak in Hajra et al., Fl. India 4: 410. 1997; Sasidh., Fl. Chinnar WLS 58. 1999; Sasidh., Fl. Parambikulam WLS 52. 2002; Anil Kumar et al., Fl. Pathanamthitta 114. 2005; E. Vajr. in P. Daniel, Fl. Kerala 1: 615. 2005; Ratheesh Narayanan, Fl. Stud. Wayanad Dist. 202. 2009.
|
|
Malayalam Name(s):
Matti, Mattipongilyam, Peemaram, Perumaram, Pongiliam, Peruppi, Saali, Swaali
|
|
Tamil name(s):
|
|
English name(s):
Tree of heaven
|
|
Description:
Trees, to 25 m high, bark light greyish-brown, fibrous or glandular, rough. Leaves pari or imparipinnate, alternate, estipulate; rachis 20-80 cm long, stout, swollen at base, pubescent; leaflets 13-29, subopposite; petiolule 20-50 mm long, slender, pubescent; lamina 9-15 x 4-6 cm, very variable in shape, mostly ovate-lanceolate, base unequal or truncate, apex acute or acuminate, margin irregularly and coarsely dentate, membranous, pubescent; lateral nerves 12-20 pairs, pinnate, prominent, intercostae reticulate, prominent. Flowers polygamous, 8 mm across, yellowish, in subterminal panicles, emits foetid smell; male flowers: pedicels long, slender; sepals 5, ovate, pubescent; petals 5, ovate-lanceolate, reflexed; disc 10 lobed; stamens 10, inserted at the base disc; filaments shorter than anthers; anthers oblong; pistillode rudimentary; bisexual flowers: sepals, petals and disc as in male flowers; stamens 2 or 3; ovary 2-5, partite, superior, sparsely hairy, ovule 1 in each cell; style free or connate; stigmas curling. Fruit a samara, 5 x 1.3 cm, prominently veined, oblong, copper red, twisted at base.
|
|
Habit:
Tree
|
|
Flowering & Fruiting:
December-July
|
|
District(s):
Palakkad, Idukki, Pathanamthitta, Wayanad
|
|
Medicinal:
Yes
|
|
Habitat:
Planted in the plains
|
|
Distribution:
Indo-Malesia
|
|
Aquatic:
No
|
|
Epiphyte(s):
No
|
|
Saprophyte:
No
|
|
Stem parasite:
No
|
|
Root parasite:
No
|
|
Flower colour(s):
Green, Yellow
|
|
Weed:
No
|
|
Monocot/Dicot:
Dicotyledonous Plants
|
|
Exotic:
No
|
|
Garden:
No
|
|
Edible:
No
|
|
Vegetable:
No
|
|
Endemic to:
|
|
IUCN status:
|
|
Altitude:
|
|
Localities:
Chinnar, Keerapady, Pooyamkutty
|