Drypetes oblongifolia (Bedd.) Airy Shaw (syn: Cyclostemon macrophyllus var. penincularis Hook.f.; Laneasagum oblongifolium Bedd.);
SW. India, Sri Lanka as per WCSP;
Common name: Oblong-Leaf Boxwood • Malayalam: Malampayin
Habit- Trees up to 12 m tall. Trunk & Bark- Trunk fluted; bark greyish, smooth, sparsely lenticellate; blaze light orange.\
Branches and Branchlets- Branchlets stout, terete, glabrous.
Leaves- Leaves simple, alternate, distichous; stipules ovate to oblong, 0.7 cm long, caducous; petiole 0.4-1 cm long, stout, planoconvex in cross section, pubescent when young; lamina 12-30 x 5-11 cm, oblong to elliptic-oblong, apex abruptly shortly acuminate, base rounded, margin entire or distantly serrate, glabrous, coriaceous; midrib flat above; secondary nerves 6-10 pairs, strong; tertiary nerves strongly and broadly reticulate.
Inflorescence / Flower- Flower unisexual, dioecious, in axillary or lateral clusters, often on old wood, sessile.
Fruit and Seed- Drupe, subglobose, to 2.5 cm across, densely rufous hirsute, sessile; seeds 2.
Understorey trees in low and medium elevation wet evergreen forests between 400 and 1400 m.
Endemic to the Western Ghats- South and Central (Coorg and Chikmagalur Regions) Sahyadris.
(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)
Drypetes oblongifolia (Putranjivaceae) : 2 posts by 2 authors. Attachments (1) Botanical name: Drypetes oblongifolia (Bedd.) Airy Shaw
Basionym: Laneasagam oblongifolium Bedd.
Location: Tamil Nadu, India.
Habit: Trees, 5 – 25 m high.
Habitat: Rare in evergreen forests of Western Ghats, often along streams and river banks between 200 – 1500 m altitudes.
Distribution: India (Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala) and ?Sri Lanka.
Fwd: Drypetes oblongifolia images : 1 post by 1 author. Please find attached, images of Drypetes oblongifolia (Bedd.) Airy Shaw with male flowers and a developing fruit, from Sakleshpura, Karnataka, Feb, 2014.
References: Catalogue of Life WCSP The Plant List Ver.1.1 World Flora Online GBIF (High resolution specimens) Flowers of India India Biodiversity Portal Biotik Wikipedia Wikimedia Commons Herbarium JCB – IISc Flora of Peninsular India |