Ilex denticulata

Ilex denticulata Wall., Ill. Ind. Bot. t. 149 1850. (syn: Ilex nilagirica Miq. ex Hook. fil.);
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SW. India, Sri Lanka, China (S. Yunnan) as per POWO;
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Trees, to 15 m high; bark 1.3 cm thick, grey, smooth; branchlets glabrous. Leaves simple, alternate, estipulate; petiole 10-13 mm, slender, glabrous, grooved above; lamina 5-16 x 2-3 cm, elliptic-oblong, obovate or elliptic, base cuneate or subacute, apex acuminate, margin dentate or serrate, coriaceous, glabrous; lateral nerves 6-9 pairs, pinnate, slender, prominent, ascending, intercostae reticulate. Flowers unisexual, white, 4-merous, 6 mm, across; male: in branched short axillary cymes; calyx tube cupular, 0.5 mm, lobes 4, persistent broad, subacute; petals 4, 4 x 2 mm, white, oblong, connate at the very base; stamens 4, adhering to the base of the corolla; filaments subulate; anthers oblong, dorsifixed; disc absent; pistillode globose; female; in fascicles; calyx as in male flowers, petals free; staminodes hypogynous; ovary ovoid, syncarpous, style very short. Fruit a drupe, globose, 6-7 mm across, brown, smooth, with persistent calyx and 4-lobed, stigma; pyrenes 4, oblong-elliptic, 4-5 x 3 mm, striate or rugose; pedicel stout.
Flowering and fruiting: January-February
Evergreen forests
Peninsular India, Sri Lanka and China
(Attributions- Dr. N Sasidharan (Dr. B P Pal Fellow), Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi as per India Biodiversity Portal)
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Nilgiris: Tree for identification 310813MK02 : Attachments (3). 6 posts by 4 authors.

Please help me to identify this tree that can grow up to 10 m high in evergreen forests of Nilgiris.

I could only see a single fruit of this.

Fruit: 08cm across

Date: 18 Aug 2013

Alt.: 2450 m asl
Place: Doddabetta, Nilgiris, TN

Drypetes sepiaria???

Dear Sir, but do the leaves have slightly serrate margin in D.sepiaria?

It looks to me like a species of Ilex, but I could be wrong

I think close to Ilex denticulata as per GBIF specimen one and two.

I have attached the original images I clicked.
3 high resolution images.

FOR VALIDATION :: ¿ Glochidion candolleanum (Wight & Arn.) Chakrab. & M.Gangop. ? :: The Nilgiris :: Jan 28, 2026 · 9:46 AM IST: 5 images.

FOR VALIDATION ::
¿ Glochidion candolleanum (Wight & Arn.) Chakrab. & M.Gangop. ?

The Nilgiris :: Jan 28, 2026 · 9:46 AM IST
along Ooty – Kotagiri Highway, about 2184 m asl

Leaf margin is toothed.

Can it be Ilex denticulata Wall. ex Wight ?

Possibility.
https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:60444795-2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilex_denticulata.
http://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Nilgiri%20Holly.html.

Many thanks, … for pointing out the mistaken ID.
I hope someone validates my suggestion of Ilex denticulata Wall. ex Wight

Yes, Ilex denticulata
Also see.
https://efloraofindia.com/efi/ilex-denticulata/

FOR VALIDATION :: ¿ Eurya nitida Korth. ? :: The Nilgiris :: Jan 28, 2026 · 4:08 PM IST: 8 images.

FOR VALIDATION ::
¿ Eurya nitida Korth. ?

The Nilgiris :: Jan 28, 2026 · 4:08 PM IST
Maditerai, about 2271 m asl

Ilex denticulata Wall.

FOR VALIDATION :: ¿ Eurya nitida Korth. ? :: The Nilgiris :: Jan 28, 2026 · 4:04 PM IST: 2 images.

FOR VALIDATION ::
¿ Eurya nitida Korth. ?

The Nilgiris :: Jan 28, 2026 · 4:04 PM IST
Maditerai, about 2277 m asl

I do not think so as per images and references at
https://efloraofindia.com/efi/eurya-nitida/

Could it be Excoecaria oppositifolia var. crenulata (Wight) Chakrab. & M.Gangop. ?

I am not confident.

Drypetes ??

Maybe, … Thank you very much.

I am not sure.

We will wait.

It may be the same as at “FOR VALIDATION :: ¿ Eurya nitida Korth. ? :: The Nilgiris :: Jan 28, 2026 · 4:08 PM IST” i.e. Ilex denticulata Wall.

References:
POWO Catalogue of Life The Plant List Ver.1.1 GBIF – specimen one and two (High resolution specimens) Flora of China FOC illustration Flora of peninsular India Biotik Kerala plants

Updated on April 3, 2026