Lophira alata (Introduced)

Lophira alata Banks ex Gaertn. fil., Suppl. Carp.: 52 (1805) (syn: Lophira africana Loudon ex G.Don; Lophira barteri Tiegh.; Lophira macrophylla Tiegh.; Lophira procera A.Chev.; Lophira simplex G.Don; Lophira thollonii Tiegh.);
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W. Tropical Africa to Uganda: Benin, Cameroon, Central African Repu, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Uganda, Zaïre as per POWO;
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ID help needed-AA02-22-02-2017 2 : Attachments (10)

I have been struggling to get the ID for this tree since a long time. Pics attached. Require kind assistance from all the experts to help me narrow down the ID of this tree.

To me, this looks like a tree in the Sterculiaceae family and looking at the fruit i thought it would be Pterocymbium sp. But the leaf does not match and hence confused.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

This was seen in Dandeli, Karnataka.

Hopea ponga.

Thanks, … But to me these image look different from those at Hopea ponga

This post shows fruits in early stage. Why not? They do tally with the ones on the page

Thanks, … I shall check again though leaf arrangement also looks different to me.

Could this be some Dipterocarpus sp.?

I tried matching with all the species of Dipterocarpaceae, but could not find a match. Is it that this has been introduced in Dandeli from outside?

Looks different from Dipterocarpaceae!

Any chance of Hopea ponga or any allied species ?

Google image search results.

Leaf pattern looks completely different from this genus !

The fruit looks very similar to Pterocymbium tinctorium fruits and I had hinted this long back…but as the leaf looks completely different, I had not pursued this id. Just thought i should bring this up in case we want to go back and explore Pterocymbium sp or some other tree in that family

Leaf looks different.

OK …; I did not tally much about the leaves. Yes, it may be different.

This tree has been identified by Dr Hussain Barbuiya as “Lophira alata”
Family: Ochnaceae
Native Range: West Tropical Africa to Uganda..

It must be introduced!

Wow! So delighted to have finally got the ID. A very big thanks to … for identifying this and … and all others to have followed up on this relentlessly. 🙏🙏

When I read about this tree, it seems it has timber value (and hence is in vulnerable status due to habitat loss I guess) and it somehow explains why this tree was found inside a timber depot of Dandeli. Somebody planted it with the knowledge of its timber value. I can only hope that it has not been cut by now. 🙁

I guess it’s a pretty rare tree in India and am not sure whether any other place it has been seen and documented in India.

Tree for ID – Dandeli – 22022014-Ampajit : 13 posts by 6 authors. 3 images.

Please help me ID this tree.
Location:Dandeli, Karnataka
Date:30-dec-2013
It was a very tall and beautiful tree. These are the only pics i have.

The tree was neither fruiting nor flowering when i took this pic.

Scaevola sp…..at least the leaf morphology reminds that…

Isnt Scaevola a beach plant? This is a full fledged tree and that too a very tall tree.

Scaevola species so far in efi

Scaveola sp

So we can close this thread by finalising that this is one of the Scaevola sp. Thanks all for the help.

I don’t think we can conclude this thread as resolved.

There is no genus by the name of genus Scaveola.

Yes there is a genus by the name of Scaevola, but most species are annual or perennial herbs. A few are shrubs and the common species often planted also S. frutescens now known as S. taccada is a spreading shrub which may reach at the most 3 m in height. This seems to be a tall tree and can’t be a species of Scaevola.
Let us hunt for an appropriate ID. Flowers should help.

Sure … Even my understanding of Scaveola was similar and had never seen a full fledged tree. Unfortunately there is no way i can get the flowers for this as i had taken the pics when i went on trip to Dandeli. However i agree to pursue and lets wait for more comments to see whether we get any further clue.

Looks like Scaevola taccada
NOT SURE

…, i dont think its a scaevola species. As mentioned earlier, most of the Scaevola species are herbs or shrubs… this is a very tall and large tree.

After seeing the flowers in … photographs from Java I feel … has mixed up the two plants. The first and third photographs may belong to Scaevola taccada, as leaves look very similar to that of … and plant looks shrubby. The tall tree shown in second photograph is also visible in background in third photograph. It may be a different plant. Perhaps that may solve confusion. I hope I am not very wrong.