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Myristica malabarica
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Family:
MYRISTICACEAE
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Citation: Myristica malabarica Lam., Acad. Roy. Sci. Mem. Math. Phys. (Paris) 162. 1791; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 5: 103. 1886; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 1213(850). 1925; Manilal & Sivar., Fl. Calicut 249. 1982; Mohanan, Fl. Quilon Dist. 342. 1984; Manilal, Fl. Silent Valley 233. 1988; Babu, Fl. Malappuram Dist. 687. 1990; Vajr., Fl. Palghat Dist. 401. 1990; M. Mohanan & Henry, Fl. Thiruvanthapuram 387. 1994; Subram., Fl. Thenmala Div. 311. 1995; Sasidh. et al., Bot. Stud. Med. Pl. Kerala 24. 1996; Sasidh. & Sivar., Fl. Pl. Thrissur For. 378. 1996; Sasidh., Fl. Shenduruny WLS 261. 1997; Sivar. & Mathew, Fl. Nilambur 581. 1997; Sasidh., Fl. Periyar Tiger Reserve 341. 1998; Ravikumar & Ved, Illustr. Field Guide 100 Red Listed Med. Pl. 250. 2000 Mohanan & Sivad., Fl. Agasthyamala 559. 2002; Anil Kumar et al., Fl. Pathanamthitta 421. 2005; Sunil & Sivadasan, Fl. Alappuzha Dist. 608. 2009; Ratheesh Narayanan, Fl. Stud. Wayanad Dist. 692. 2009.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Chorapali, Panampalka, Pasupasi, Pathri, Ponnampoovu, Ponnampayin
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
Malabar nutmeg, Bombay mace, False nutmeg
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Description:
Dioecious trees, height to 20 m tall; bark 8-10 mm thick, greenish-black, smooth, tuberculate-lenticellate; exudation deep red; branchlets glabrous. Leaves simple, alternate, distichous, 7-20 x 3-10 cm, elliptic or elliptic-oblong, apex acute, base acute or attenuate, or subacute, margin entire, glabrous and glossy above and glaucous beneath, coriaceous; lateral nerves 8-14 pairs, pinnate, slender; petiole 10-15 mm long, stout, grooved above, glabrous. Flowers unisexual, white; male in cymes, axillary or from the old axils below the leaves, generally cymosely branched, rarely simple. Male flowers: more numerous than in female and smaller, umbelled at the apex of branchlets; perianth urceolate, minutely puberulous outside, glabrous inside, 3-4 cleft at apex; staminal column stalked, slightly produces above the anthers, pubescent; anthers 10-15, linear. Female flowers: slightly larger than male peduncle generally simple with 3 umbelled pedicels at the apex, rarely once branched and bearing 5-6 flowers; bracteole forming a narrow linear cup round the base of the perianth; ovary superior, sessile, globose, hairy, stigma 2 clefted, glabrous. Fruit a capsule 5-7.5 x 1.8-3.5, oblong, pubescent, seed one, oblong, obtuse, slightly flattened on one side, aril yellow, irregularly lobed, laciniate, extending to the apex of the seed.
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Habit:
Tree
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Flowering & Fruiting:
January-September
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District(s):
Alappuzha, Kollam, Idukki, Pathanamthitta, Malappuram, Palakkad, Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikkode, Thrissur, Wayanad, Kannur
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Medicinal:
Yes
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Habitat:
Evergreen and swamp forests
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Distribution:
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):
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:
Western Ghats
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IUCN status:
Vulnerable (VU)
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Altitude:
100-1000
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Localities:
Chimmini, Choodal, Umiyar, Koruthode, Arippa, Punnamala, Mukkali slopes, Appuppanthode, Mukkali forests, Vattappara-Inchikuzhi, Siruvani slopes, Kottur R.F., Klamala R.F., Cherthala, Elanginelvallikavu, Vaniampuzha, Thenmalai, Ettapadappu, Athirumala, Bo
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