Memecylon terminale

Memecylon terminale Dalzell, Hooker’s J. Bot. Kew Gard. Misc. 3: 121 1851. (syn: Memecylon amabile Bedd.);

muh-MEHS-uh-lawn — adopted from the Greek name of Arbutus fruit … Encyclopaedia Londinensis

term-in-AL-ee or term-in-AL-ay — terminal position … Dave’s Botanary

commonly known as: smallest Indian memecylon

Habit- Shrubs ca. 4 m tall.

Trunk & Bark- Bark greyish, finely fissured

Branches and Branchlets- Branches dichotomously spreading; branchlets terete, glabrous.

Leaves- Leaves simple, opposite, decussate; petiole sessile or subsessile (ca. 0.2 cm long), glabrous; lamina 3.1-8.9 x 1.1-3.2 cm, ovate-lanceolate with tapering apex with obtuse tip, base rounded or subcordate, margin entire, coriaceous, glabrous; midrib slightly canaliculate; secondary nerves obscure; tertiary nerves obscure.

Inflorescence / Flower- Inflorescence long peduncled (2 cm long) umbels, subterminal and axillary; flowers blue

Fruit and Seed- Berry, 0.4-0.5 cm diameter, globose; seeds 1.

Occasional undergrowth in low elevation wet evergreen forests, up to 700 m.

Endemic to the Western Ghats- mostly in Central Sahyadri and also recorded in Agasthyamalai.

(attributions- B. R. Ramesh, N. Ayyappan, Pierre Grard, Juliana Prosperi, S. Aravajy, Jean Pierre Pascal, The Biotik Team, French Institute of Pondicherry from India Biodiversity Portal)