Saurauia fasciculata

Saurauia fasciculata Wall., Pl. Asiat. Rar. 2: 40 (1831) (syn: Ternstroemia fasciculata Wall.);
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Nepal to Assam: Assam, East Himalaya, Nepal as per POWO;
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Shrubs or small trees, about 3-6 m tall. Bark brown, young stems and branches with tubercular dots, scattered adpressed scales of about 1 mm long, densely rusty tomentose, later becoming glabrescent. Leaves simple, alternate, lanceolate-ovate to elliptic-oblong, about 10-26 x 3-8 cm across, base obtuse to acute, margins remotely serrate-serrulate, apex acuminate to attenuate, membranous, chartaceous, green glabrous above or paler rusty tomentose with scattered scales on the lateral veins and midrib beneath, midrib impressed above and prominent, tomentose beneath, lateral veins 16-30 on either side of the midrib, veinlets reticulate, petiole densely scaly, rusty tomentose, about 5-50 mm long, exstipulate. Inflorescence axillary, fascicled in trichotomous cymes, peduncles glabrous, about 5-8 cm long. Flowers bisexual, pedicel glabrous, about 0.5-2 cm long, bracts, linear-deltoid, persistent, about 1 mm long, sepals 5, subequal, free, imbricate, ovate-orbicular, base free or subconnate, apex obtuse, glabrous, about 3-6 x 3-4 mm across, persistent, petals 5, imbricate, white becoming pink when mature, obovate-orbicular, base connate, glabrous, about 6-9 x 5 mm across. Stamens numerous, adnate to the base of the petals, about 1-2 mm long, filaments slender, anthers versatile, 2 loculed, dehiscing by apical pores or sometimes by short slits. Ovary superior, globose, 3-5 locular, about 1-2 mm long, glabrous, ovules numerous in each locule, axile placentation, style 5, base hairy, connate till middle, persistent in when fruits are young. Fruit berry, globose-ovoid, about 7-8 x 5-6 mm across, densely villous, usually ribbed, rarely dry and subdehiscent. Seeds numerous, small, brown, albuminous.
Subtropical broad leafed forests of Eastern Himalayas, altitude 500-1500 m.
(Attributions: Ganeshaiah, K. N., UAS, Bangalore, India. Kailash, B. R., ATREE, Bangalore, India. Royal Norwegian Embassy grants. Indian Bioresource Information Network (IBIN), Department of Biotechnology, New Delhi, India as per India Biodiversity Portal)
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