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Diospyros cordifolia
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Family:
EBENACEAE
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Citation: Diospyros cordifolia Roxb., Pl. Corom. t. 50. 1795; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 776(545). 1923; Sasidh., Fl. Chinnar WLS 180. 1999; Sasidh., Fl. Parambikulam WLS 182. 2002; V. Singh, Monogr. Indian Diospyros 73. 2005.
Diospyros montana Roxb. var. cordifolia (Roxb.) Clarke in Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 3: 555. 1882.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Vakkana
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
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Description:
Dioecious trees, to 10 m high; bark greyish-brown; blaze sulphur yellow; branchlets tomentose; strong often branched thorns scattered over the trunk and larger branches. Leaves simple, alternate, estipulate; petiole 3-7 mm, slender, tomentose; lamina 2.5-8 x 1.5-4 cm, oblong, oblong-lanceolate or elliptic-oblong, base cordate, round, obtuse or subtruncate, apex obtuse or acute, margin entire, softly pubescent on both sides, chartaceous; lateral nerves 4-9 pairs, pinnate, slender, faint, intercostae reticulate, obscure. Flowers unisexual, white; male flowers: 3-flowered axillary racemes; calyx hairy outside; tube 2 mm, lobes 4, 3 mm long, elliptic, obtuse or subacute, pubescent inside, margin ciliate; corolla urceolate, 6 mm, white, slightly pubescent outside; lobes 4, twisted, ovate, acute; stamens 16, 5-7 mm long, in pairs of unequal size which united at base; anthers linear-oblong, not awned, pubescent; female flowers: solitary, pedicellate; bracteoles oblong, hairy, ciliate; calyx deeply lobed, lobes 4, oblong, obtuse; corolla urceolate white; lobes 4, obtuse; staminodes 12 in a single row, lanceolate; filaments long; ovary superior, globose, glabrous; style 4, erect, bifid. Fruit a berry ca. 2 cm across, yellow, fruiting calyx enlarged to 1.5 cm, ovate, cordate, deflexed.
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Habit:
Tree
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Flowering & Fruiting:
February-June
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District(s):
Palakkad, Idukki
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Medicinal:
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Habitat:
Dry deciduous forests
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Distribution:
Indo-Malesia to Australia
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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):
White
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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:
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Localities:
Palapetty, Churullipetty, Alampetty, Kuchimudi
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