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Kandelia candel
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Family:
RHIZOPHORACEAE
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Citation: Kandelia candel (L.) Druce, Rep. Bot. Exch. Club. British Ist. 1913: 4210. 1914; Manilal & Sivar., Fl. Calicut 103. 1982; Mohanan, Fl. Quilon Dist. 172. 1984; Ansari, Fl. Kasaragod Div. 154. 1985; Antony, Syst. Stud. Fl. Kottayam Dist. 157. 1989; Babu, Fl. Malappuram Dist. 239. 1990; Anupama & Sivad., Rheedea 14: 32. 2004; Sunil & Sivadasan, Fl. Alappuzha Dist. 278. 2009.
Rhizophora candel L., Sp. Pl. 443. 1753.
Kandelia rheedei Wight & Arn., Prodr. 311. 1834; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 2: 437. 1878; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 457(324). 1919.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Cherukandal, Nallakandal
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
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Description:
Evergreen trees, to 6 m high; bole buttressed; bark dark brown, smooth; branchlets, terete, glabrous, reddish-brown; stipular scar narrow, thin, brown layered; leaf scar round, prominent. Leaves simple, opposite, decussate, stipulate, clustered at the shoot apex; stipules 2.5 cm long, pale green; petiole 15-20 mm long, stout, glabrous; lamina 8.5-12 x 3-4.5 cm, oblong or lanceolate, base cuneate, apex emarginate, margin entire, glabrous, coriaceous, shiny-green above and pale green beneath; lateral nerves 7-9 pairs, pinnate, slender, obscure, intercostae obscure. Flowers bisexual, white, 2.2 x 3.3 cm, in axillary dichotomously branched 4-flowered cymes; peduncle 4.4 cm long, terete, glabrous; bracts minute, cupular, at each node on peduncle; pedicel 3 mm long, terete, glabrous; bracteoles 2, connate to form a cup enclosing the calyx base, glabrous; calyx white, tube cupular, smooth, glabrous, enclosing the ovary; lobes 5, 1.5 cm long, linear, thick, fleshy, glabrous, persistent; petals 5, free, 5 mm long, white, deeply bilobed, lobes equal with 3-6 cilia at apex, glabrous; stamens many, free, inserted on the rim of calyx cup, filaments unequal, 0.7-1.2 cm long, terete, anthers basifixed, bilobed; ovary half inferior, inserted and fused with the calyx cup, single celled, ovules 6, pendulous, attached to the tip of central axis; style filiform, terete; stigma minutely 3-lobed. Fruit a drupe, 1.5-2 cm long, ovoid-conical; calyx lobes reflexed; peduncle elongating; seed one; hypocotyl 40 x 1.5 cm, spindle shaped, slightly curved with pointed radicle, surface smooth, green; cotyledonary collar protruded and exposed on maturity.
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Habit:
Tree
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Flowering & Fruiting:
January-August
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District(s):
Kottayam, Alappuzha, Kasaragode, Kollam, Malappuram, Kozhikkode, Ernakulam, Kannur, Thrissur
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Medicinal:
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Habitat:
Mangrove swamps
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Distribution:
Indo-Melasia and China
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Aquatic:
Yes
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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:
Payyanur, Thanneermukkam
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