Semecarpus kathalekanensis Dasappa & Swam., Indian Forester 126: 78 2000. ;
Common name: Kathalekan Marsh Nut • Kannada: Dadde ele holegara, Hedagalu
Habit- Trees, up to 20 m tall Trunk & Bark- Bark smooth, greyish brown, mottled with numerous prominent lenticels; blaze light brown.
Branches and Branchlets- Branchlets stout, smooth, glabrous.
Exudates- Latex acrid, watery, turning black after exposure.
Leaves- Leaves simple, alternate, spiral, petiole 5-10 cm long; lamina (25) 45-100 x (6) 15-22 cm, largely oblong-lanceolate or obovate, apex obtusely and abruptly acuminate, base cuneate and oblique, margin entire and wavy; secondary nerves ca. 20 pairs; tertiary nerves reticulate.
Inflorescence / Flower- Inflorescence axillary panicles with unisexual greenish flowers; male inflorescence 30-50 cm long; female inflorescence 5-15 cm long, minutely rusty pubescent.
Fruit and Seed- Drupe, compressed, obliquely reniform ca. 2 cm, 1-seeded.
In open evergreen forests around swamps.
Endemic to Western Ghats (So far recorded from only in Kathalekan, Shimoga Region of Central Sahyadri).
(Attributions- B. R. Ramesh, N. Ayyappan, Pierre Grard, Juliana Prosperi, S. Aravajy, Jean Pierre Pascal, The Biotik Team, French Institute of Pondicherry
This short film also contains species recovery plans of an endemic tree – Semecarpus kathalekanensis – in the Western Ghats.
References: The Plant List Ver.1.1 (Unresolved) Flowers of India India Biodiversity Portal Biotik
A new species of Semecarpus L. (Anacardiaceae) from the Myristica swamps of Western Ghats of North Canara, Karnataka, India (Dasappa; Swaminath, M. H. – Indian Forester 2000 Vol. 126 No. 1 pp. 78-82- Abstract- A botanical description is given of Semecarpus kathalekanensis, a new tree species 10-20 m tall, found in the Myristica swamps of North Canara. Line drawings and photographs are included, and comparisons made with the known species S. auriculata and S. travancorica. Brief notes are given on the ecology/habitat of the species.) |