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Ficus costata
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Family:
MORACEAE
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Citation: Ficus costata Ait., Hort. Kew. (ed. 1) 3: 452. 1789; Sasidh., Fl. Periyar Tiger Reserve 392. 1998; Sasidh. & Jomy., Rheedea 9: 79. 1999; Sasidh., Fl. Parambikulam WLS 311. 2002.
Ficus caudiculata Trimen, J. Bot. 23: 243. 1885; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 5: 510. 1888.
Ficus mooniana King in Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 5: 514. 1888.
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Malayalam Name(s):
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
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Description:
Trees; rarely epiphytic, to 15 m high; branchlets slender, glabrous. Leaves simple, alternate, spiral; stipules small, lateral, glabrous or puberulous, leafy, deciduous, leaving on annular scar; petiole 1.5-4 cm long, not articulated, slender, glabrous, grooved above; lamina 7.5-15 x 3.5-7.5 cm, elliptic, oblong, oblong-ovate or elliptic-oblong, base round or subcordate, apex obtusely acuminate, margin entire, glabrous, areolate beneath; 3-ribbed from base, coriaceous; lateral nerves 9-18 pairs, parallel, slender, prominent, looped near the margin, intercostae reticulate, prominent. Flowers unisexual; inflorescence a syconia, in axillary pairs, smooth or scurfy when young; peduncle 5-8 mm long, glabrous; basal bracts 3, ovate, 2.5 x 4.5 mm, sometimes shortly connate at base, body subglobose; the orifice slightly depressed; no internal bristles; male flowers disperse, sessile or pedicellate; tepals 3, red, fleshy, connate at base; stamen 1, 1 mm long; anther submucronate; gall flowers with red pedicels; ovary sessile, reddish on stylar side; female flowers sessile; tepals 3, red ovate, connate at base, fleshy, ovary superior, reddish on the stylar side; stigma simple. Syconium yellow turning to red when ripe; achene smooth.
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Habit:
Tree
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Flowering & Fruiting:
November-December
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District(s):
Palakkad, Thrissur, Idukki
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Medicinal:
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Habitat:
Evergreen forests
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Distribution:
South India and Sri Lanka
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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):
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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:
Pambavalley, Pamba, Thekkady, Pezha
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