Premna resinosa

Premna resinosa (Hochst.) Schauer, Prodr. 11: 637 1847. (syn: Gumira resinosa (Hochst.) Kuntze; Holochiloma resinosum Hochst.);

Chad; Djibouti; Eritrea; Ethiopia; India; Kenya; Oman; Saudi Arabia; Somalia; Sudan; Tanzania; Uganda; Yemen as per Catalogue of Life;

NE. & E. Trop. Africa, Arabian Pen, India as per WCSP;

Undershrub about 3-8 ft tall. Stem woody, bark gray or grayish white, branchlets slender, obtusely quadrangular or terete, young parts pubescent, nearly glabrous when mature, internodes about 1.5-4 cm long. Leaves simple, decussate-opposite, ovate-oblong, elliptic-oblong 1.5-3 × 0.8-1.8 cm across, base obtuse to acute, margin entire, apex acute or obtuse, subcoriaceous or chartaceous, dark green glabrous, slightly paler glabrous and puntate beneath, lateral veins 3-4 on either side of the midrib, margins arcuate, impressed above, prominent beneath, reticulate veinlets, young leaves glaucous, villous beneath, petiole slender, pubescent, canaliculated, about 0.3-0.6 long. Inflorescence terminal panicles, composed of 2–4 decussate opposite cymes, peduncle slender, obtusely quadrangular, about 0.5-1 cm long, bracts subulate, linear about 0.3-mm long. Flowers bisexual, few, pedicels about 1-3 mm long. Calyx cupular, 5 toothed, teeth subequal, pubescent, about 1.5 × 2 mm across, corolla infundibular, 4 lobed, 2-lipped, lobes obovate, light cream white, corolla tube narrow. Stamens 4, didynamous, exserted, filaments filiform, slightly exserted, anthers globose, black, 2-celled. Ovary obovoid, glabrous, style slender, stigma bilobed. Fruit drupaceous, obovoid, glabrous, about 3 x 2 mm across, glabrous, fruiting calyx saucer shaped, reddish orange when ripe.

Hilly area and rocky slopes.

Local Distribution: Gujarat. Global Distribution: Asia: India, Saudi Arabia; Africa: Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan

(Attributions- Ganeshaiah, K. N., UAS, Bangalore, India. Kailash, B. R., UAS & ATREE, Bangalore, India. Indian Bioresource Information Network (IBIN), Department of Biotechnology, New Delhi, India from India Biodiversity Portal)
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