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Croton malabaricus

Croton malabaricus Bedd., Fl. Sylv. S. India 204 1873. (syn; Oxydectes malabarica (Bedd.) Kuntze);
.
SW. India as per POWO;
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Habit- Trees up to 18 m tall.

Branches and Branchlets- Branchlets terete, stellate scaly.
Leaves- Leaves simple, alternate, spiral; stipules linear, caducous; petiole 3-11 cm long, terete, stellate scaly; lamina 7.5-15.5 x 3.8-10.5 cm, broadly-elliptic to ovate, apex acuminate, base retuse, margin entire, chartaceous, densely silvery stellate scaly beneath, glabrous above; 1 to 2 pairs nerves arising from the base; midrib almost flat above; secondary nerves 5-8 pairs; tertiary nerves distantly percurrent.
Inflorescence / Flower- Inflorescence racemes; flowers unisexual, monoecious, white.
Fruit and Seed- Capsule obovoid, 2.5 cm long, brown tomentose, seeds 3.
Subcanopy tree in evergreen forests up to 1200 m.
Endemic to the Western Ghats- South and Central Sahyadris.
Attributions- B. R. Ramesh, N. Ayyappan, Pierre Grard, Juliana Prosperi, S. Aravajy, Jean Pierre Pascal, The Biotik Team, French Institute of Pondicherry.)
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761 ID wild tree: 21 high res. images.

Please ID wild tree,
Location: Neryamangalam Kothamangalam Ernakulam Kerala INDIA
Altitude: 1750fsl
Flower date: 28MAR2026, 02.25pm
Habitat: wild moisture sloppy highland 
Plant habit: medium erect branched tree, hard woody cylindrical trunk 45 inch base circumference, rough brownish flaky bark, powdery sprout
Height: 04 meter
Leaves: alternate cordate/elliptical acute flexible, dorsal silvery, size upto: 12×07cm
Flower: terminal spike inflorescences, clustered, greenish yellow, fragrant diameter:10mm
Fruit: capsule green ovoid
Seed:

Is it Mallotus sp.?

May be some
https://efloraofindia.com/efi/croton/

Yes, it is Croton sp. dear …, thank you very much for the genus ID.

Croton malabaricus Bedd.

Yes, it is Croton malabaricus, dear …, thank you very much for ID my plant.

.

please validate whether I have put correctly the name in native script – ಯೆಟ್ಟಿಮರ for yettimara
Reference: Biotik

Dear Tamil-knowing friends … please help with the name “thavattu palavu” (* பலவு) in native script … a name for Croton malabaricus
Reference: TN ENVIS

In Tamil, I think, it could most likely be தவிட்டுபலவு tavittupalavu.

I think the following book is useful for your reference.
A CATALOGUE OF INDIAN SYNONYMES OF THE MEDICINAL PLANTS
(Plant names in various vernacular Indian languages)
670 Pages. First published in 1869 (Reprinted in 1978) can be downloaded from the following link
http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/bitstream/1/2027905/1/239744.pdf

Thanks very much for pointing to this reference … Very informative and useful.

Thank you for sending the pdf. Its nice old book. will help me a lot

The Tamil translation is correct, …
The “palavu” (பலவு) portion of the name sounds like a variation of “polavu” (பொலவு) or “pulavu” (புலவு) which refer to Pterospermum spp.

What you are referring as a Kannada name of Croton malabaricus is correct name which you have written in My mother language.

Thanks … for the continuous follow-up with unresolved queries.
Many thanks to … for validating the name typed in Kannada script.
Thus we have:  ಯೆಟ್ಟಿಮರ yettimara in Kannada AND தவிட்டுபலவு tavittupalavu in Tamil.
In Kannada Yettimara is written right.
But when I hear the pronunciation from locals I can be really sure of the script. (Yettimara or Yethimara)
‘Mara’ means tree.

Many thanks … Will wait for any validating comment for this doubt.

 
Updated on April 27, 2026

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