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Croton persimilis
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Family:
EUPHORBIACEAE
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Citation: Croton persimilis Muell.-Arg., Linnaea 34: 116. 1865 & DC., Prodr. 15: 618. 1866 emend. Philcox in Dassan. & Clayton, Rev. Handb. Fl. Ceylon 11: 92. 1997; Chakrab. & Balakr., J. Econ. Tax. Bot. 30: 298. 2006; N.P.Balakr. & Chakrab., Fam. Euphorbiaceae India 215. 2007.
Croton oblongifolius Roxb., Fl. Ind. 3: 685. 1832, non Del. 1812; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 5: 386. 1887; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 1315(919). 1925.
Croton roxburghii Balakr., Bull. Bot. Surv. India 3: 39. 1961; Ansari, Fl. Kasaragod Div. 337. 1985; Sivar. & Mathew, Fl. Nilambur 616. 1997.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Koteputol, Pongalam, Somaraaji, Thomarayam
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
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Description:
Small trees; bark grey or brownish; young shoots covered with minute orbicular silvery scales. Leaves simple, alternate, spiral, turning red before falling; 11-23 x 3.5-7.5 cm; elliptic, obovate, elliptic-obovate, elliptic-oblanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, base acute or cuneate, apex acute, margin more or less crenate or young, coriaceous; lateral nerves 8-13 pairs, pinnate, slender, prominent, intercostae reticulate, prominent; stipules lateral; petiole 15-40 mm long, stout, slightly grooved above, swollen at tip and base, silver lepidote scales present. Flowers unisexual, pale yellowish-green, solitary or fascicled in the axils of minute bracts on long erect often fascicled racemes, the males in the upper part of the raceme, the females in the lower part; male flowers: pedicels of variable length, slender; sepals 5, ovate, obtuse; petals elliptic-lanceolate, obtuse, woolly; stamens 12, inflexed in bud; lower half of the filaments hairy; female flowers: pedicels short, stout; sepals 5, ovate, acute, ciliate; petals 5, obovate, margin densely woolly; ovary 3-celleed, ovule 1 in each cell; styles 3, each again divided into 2 longer slender curled branches. Fruit a capsule, subglobose, depressed, slightly 3-lobed, lepidote scaly; seeds 3.
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Habit:
Tree
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Flowering & Fruiting:
March-June
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District(s):
Kasaragode, Malappuram, Alappuzha, Thrissur, Ernakulam
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Medicinal:
Yes
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Habitat:
Scrub forests, also in the plains
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Distribution:
India to China
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Aquatic:
No
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Epiphyte(s):
No
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Saprophyte:
No
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Stem parasite:
No
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Root parasite:
No
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Flower colour(s):
Green, Yellow
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Weed:
No
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Monocot/Dicot:
Dicotyledonous Plants
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Exotic:
No
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Garden:
No
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Edible:
No
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Vegetable:
No
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Endemic to:
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IUCN status:
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Altitude:
100-1300
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Localities:
Kasaragod, Karulai
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