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Semecarpus anacardium
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Family:
ANACARDIACEAE
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Citation: Semecarpus anacardium L. f., Suppl. Pl. 182. 1781; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 2: 30. 1876; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 266(190). 1918; Mohanan, Fl. Quilon Dist. 130. 1984; Vajr., Fl. Palghat Dist. 139. 1990; Antony, Syst. Stud. Fl. Kottayam Dist. 114. 1989; M. Mohanan & Henry, Fl. Thiruvanthapuram 129. 1994; Subram., Fl. Thenmala Div. 81. 1995; Sasidh. & Sivar., Fl. Pl. Thrissur For. 124. 1996; D. Chandra & S.K. Mukh. in N.P. Singh et al., Fl. India 5: 500. 2000; Sasidh., Fl. Parambikulam WLS 80. 2002; Mohanan & Sivad., Fl. Agasthyamala 185. 2002; Anil Kumar et al., Fl. Pathanamthitta 148. 2005; V. Chandra. in P. Daniel, Fl. Kerala 1: 816. 2005; Ratheesh Narayanan, Fl. Stud. Wayanad Dist. 256. 2009.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Alakkucheru, Cherkuru, Cheru, Cherumaram, Perkuru, Sambiri, Temprakku, Thenkotta
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Tamil name(s):
Bhallatak
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English name(s):
Marking nut tree, Oriental cashew
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Description:
Trees, to 12 m high, bark 5-6 mm thick, grey to greyish-brown with tessellate scales, furrows longitudinal and horizontal; blaze dull red; exudation acrid. Leaves simple, alternate, crowded at end of branchlets, estipulate; petiole 20-45 mm long, stout, pubescent; lamina 15-50 x 10-15 cm, obovate-oblong, elliptic-oblong or obovate, base acute, obtuse, round or truncate, apex obtuse, round or emarginate, margin entire, glabrous above, puberulent and glaucous beneath, coriaceous; lateral nerves 10-20 pairs, parallel, prominent; intercostae reticulate, prominent. Flowers polygamous, greenish-yellow, 6-8 mm across, in terminal pubescent panicles; calyx lobes 5, ovate, margin ciliate, imbricate, deciduous; petals 5, imbricate; disc broad, annular, villous; stamens 5 inserted below the disc; filaments filiform, glabrous, in male flowers as long as or longer than petals, in female flowers shorter than petals; anthers oblong; ovary superior, densely villous, 1-celled, ovule pendulous from a basal funicle; styles 3, divergent. Fruit a drupe, 2-5 cm long, fleshy, purplish-black, seated on an orange hypocarp as long as the drupe, pericarp rich in corrosive resinous juice; seed pendulous.
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Habit:
Tree
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Flowering & Fruiting:
February-April
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District(s):
Palakkad, Kottayam, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, Wayanad
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Medicinal:
Yes
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Habitat:
Moist deciduous and semi-evergreen forests
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Distribution:
Africa, Indo-Malesia, China and 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):
Creamy, 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:
400-1000
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Localities:
Peechi, Anappadi, Kuruva Island, Pathanamthitta, Attapady block-Mukkali, Dhoni R. F., Boneccord, Ariankavu, Thenmalai, Bonaccord
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