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Diospyros courtallumensis
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Family:
EBENACEAE
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Citation: Diospyros courtallumensis Bahadur & Gaur in Purkayastha, Indian Woods 5: 124. 1982; V. Singh, Monogr. Indian Diospyros 79. 2005.
Diospyros humilis Bourd., Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 12. 352. t.4. 1899, non (R. Br.) F.v. Muell. 1867; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 773(544). 1923; M. Mohanan & Henry, Fl. Thiruvanthapuram 280. 1994; Sasidh., Fl. Shenduruny WLS 193. 1997; Gopalan & Henry, Endemic Pl. Agasthiyamala 135. 2000; Mohanan & Sivad., Fl. Agasthyamala 417. 2002.
Diospyros orixensis Wight ex Hiern, Trans. Cambridge Philos. Soc. 12. 264. 1873, non Willd. 1805; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 3: 571. 1882.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Meruvalan
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
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Description:
Dioecious trees; to 12 m high, bark black mottled with green and dark grey; branches terete, woody, glabrous; branchlets terete, brown, hirsute. Leaves simple, alternate, estipulate; petioles 3-5 mm long, stout, hirsute when young, glabrescent when mature; lamina 4-10 x 1.5-4.5 cm, elliptic, elliptic-acuminate, elliptic-lanceolate or ovate-oblong, base cuneate or round, apex acuminate or obtusely acuminate, margin entire, coriaceous, glabrous above, pubescent on midrib; lateral nerves 6-8 pairs, pinnate, obscure, intercostae reticulate, obscure. Flowers unisexual, white; female flowers solitary, axillary; male flowers in 6-8 flowered cymes, axillary; pedicels upto 3 mm; calyx tube short, glabrous; lobes 4, orbicular, glabrous, margin ciliate; petals 4, white, small, lanceolate, sparsely hairy without, glabrous within, entire, obtuse or acute; stamens 12; anthers small; staminodes 4; disc hirsute between sepals and petals; ovary minute, superior, globose, 4-celled, ovule 1-in each cell. Fruit a berry, 2.5 x 2.5 cm, globose-ovoid, hirsute at base; calyx lobes not enlarged; endosperm equable.
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Habit:
Tree
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Flowering & Fruiting:
January-July
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District(s):
Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam
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Medicinal:
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Habitat:
Evergreeen forests
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Distribution:
Southern Western Ghats
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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:
Southern Western Ghats
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IUCN status:
Critically Endangered (CR)
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Altitude:
600-1100
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Localities:
Pandimotta, Nelluyampathy forests, Chemungi, Attayar, Athirumala
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